


Tricanon

by TheWanderingMist



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-06 09:01:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 33,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5410889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWanderingMist/pseuds/TheWanderingMist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the story of three girls and their journey through the world of Pokemon.  When mysterious doors begin appearing and disappearing without warning, events from long ago will be set in motion. Along the way, they will meet many new faces, people and Pokemon alike. The girls will battle their way into the heart of the enigma and what they find may have ramifications for the entire world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Wake Up

**Author's Note:**

> The story is fairly heavy on dialogue and thoughts. Somehow, most of my characters end up unable to prevent themselves from explaining their situation to everyone they meet. If you want to see how the battles are written, skip ahead to chapter 7. After that, they begin to appear with more frequency.

“Wake up, Milli. Don’t you know what today is?”  
Milli sat up, her eyes red with exhaustion. “Of course. It’s my eleventh birthday, the day I get to finally start my adventure since the government decided to increase the age restriction to 11.”  
“All right, then. Come on, get up. Time to go to the Gym to get your starter from your father.”  
Milli rubbed her eyes. “I am excited, Mom, but did you really have to wake me up at 4:30 in the morning?”  
“Oops,” said her mother, “guess not. The Gym doesn’t open ‘til 8 anyway, though your dads always gets there around 5:30 for some morning training. Go back to sleep for a little while. I’ll get you back up later.”  
And with that, Milli drifted quietly back to sleep.  
***  
The sound of a phone ringing woke Marie. She listened through her bedroom door to what her mother was saying.  
“What? You won’t be home? But you promised her. … I know, I know, you’re filling in for my father. When will you be back? … That long, huh? … No, I will not tell her for you, you’ll have to tell her yourself.”   
“Marie, honey. It’s time to wake… oh, you’re already up. Anyway, your father has something to say to you.”  
Marie took the phone. “Hey, sweetie, happy 12th birthday! I’m really sorry I couldn’t make it home, but your grandfather isn’t in very good health. I’ll be home as soon as possible. Grandpa is pretty old, we might have to shut down the Gym. Love you, see ya soon! Bye.”  
“Marie? I know you’re disappointed. After all, you do start your journey today. But I think I have something that will cheer you up.”  
Marie walked into the kitchen. A package was on the table. “To: Marie” she read. She opened the package. Inside was PokéGear.   
“I know you were hoping for a Pokétch, but we just couldn’t afford one. I hope the PokéGear makes up for it.”  
“Of course it does, Mom. Can I….”.  
The sound of the PokéGear ringing interrupted Marie. She picked it up.  
“Hello? Marie? Did you get my present to you yet?”  
“Yes, Aunt Whitney. I got it. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Are you going to visit anytime soon?”  
“I wish I could, but Rocket’s started back up again, causing trouble all over the place. Why don’t you visit me?”  
“My parents don’t exactly want me wandering around a faraway region on my own. But if I can beat the Elite Four here, they might let me.”  
“I see. After what happened on your parent’s journeys, I can understand their worries.”  
There was a loud noise in the background.  
“Gotta go, kiddo. Someone just broke in. I’ll show them to mess with me! Talk to you later, okay? Bye.”  
“Okay,” said Marie, “bye.”  
***  
“Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Do you know what day it is?!”  
“Yes, we know,” said her mother. “It’s your 8th birthday! Excited for the party this weekend?”  
“Of course! All my friends will be jealous when I get my first Pokémon.”   
“You are pretty young to be getting one, but we think you can handle it. After all, your father and I weren’t much older when we got our first Pokémon. Sure you can wait ‘til the weekend to get your Pokémon?”  
“No! I’m way too excited! Why can’t I meet my Pokémon now?” asked Mia.  
“Because it’s not one of the usual starters since you’re only 8. Your dad hasn’t even gotten the Egg back from the Day-Care man yet.”  
“Awww, man. I really wanted to meet my Pokémon today.”   
“It’s only two days. And, they’re school days. That ought to keep you sidetracked until the weekend. All right, it’s time to get ready for the day. Let’s go.”  
***  
I can’t believe it, thought Milli. I finally get my very own Pokémon.  
They arrived at the Mauville Gym around7:30, before the crowd of challengers got there for the day.   
“All right, sweetheart, I’ll see you later,” said her mother. “I’ve got to get to Lavaridge Town before they run out of Lava Cookies for the week. Don’t forget to stop by before you leave.”  
“I won’t. Bye, Mom.”  
Milli entered the Gym. The old building never ceased to amaze her. All the Tesla-coil-like devices were as shiny as ever. She spotted her father across the Gym.  
“Hey, Dad! Over here! Would it kill you to turn off the electric fences for one minute?”  
“Yeah, yeah. I’m turning them off. Get over here.”  
Milli walked across the gym floor, now free of electric fences. Her father appeared to be excited, but as she got closer, she saw a twinge of sadness in his eyes.  
“Milli, my daughter, my beautiful daughter. You’ve grown up so fast. Already ready to set off on your own journey.”  
“Come on, Dad! Just get to the point already! I want to meet my starter.”  
“I know, I know. It’s not everyone that gets a non-traditional starter, you know.”  
“I know, I know. I should be a little more grateful, since you’re letting me go on a journey and all. But I’m way too excited!”  
“All right, all right. Here you go your very own first Pokémon.”  
***  
“Bye, Mom,” said Marie as she walked out the door. “I’m off to the Professor’s lab to get my Pokedex.”  
“Okay, sweetie, have a good time. Your father and I are both very excited that you’re finally going on your journey. We’re so proud of you.”  
“Thanks, Mom. Oh, before I forget, should I bring my starter with me?”  
“Only if you don’t plan on coming back home for dinner.”  
“Ok, then. See you later.”  
A few minutes later, Marie arrived at the professor’s lab. The doors slid open as she walked inside.  
“Marie!” exclaimed the professor. “I was starting to worry you’d never come!”  
“Well, my parents had bad experiences on their journeys, so they figured that I should probably wait an extra couple of years.”  
“Oh, yes, I quite say they did. But all of that’s over now. I presume you came to pick up your starter Pokémon?”  
“Actually, I only came to get a Pokedex. I already have my first Pokémon waiting for me at home.”  
“Ok then. Here’s your Pokedex. It’s the latest model. It has detailed information on all the Pokémon in this region, as well as Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn. We haven’t gotten Unova on it yet, but you shouldn’t have to worry about that for now. Would you like me to show you how it works?”  
“No thanks. I have a pretty good idea from my father’s old Pokedex.”  
“All right. Now that that’s settled, you should get going. I bet you’re just dying to start your way on journey.”  
“Yeah, kinda, but I don’t leave ‘til tomorrow anyway.”  
“You’re a smart girl, you are, waiting for tomorrow. It’ll give you that feeling of truly beginning a new chapter in your life.”  
“I’ll be leaving now. I have a feeling there are other children you still have to get to.”  
“Yes, there are a few more today. It’ll be a while until I see you again, Marie, so good luck on your journey.”  
“Thank you, Professor Rowan, for everything.”  
And with that, Marie left the lab and headed back home, the place from where her journey would begin.  
***  
The bell rang. Mia dashed out of her seat and ran to the parking lot. Her mother was already waiting.  
“So, Mia, what did you learn on your last day of school?”  
“It was so exciting! We learned about Pokémon and their different types and weaknesses and strengths.”  
“Sounds like an interesting day. And tomorrow will be even more fun. But I do have a special surprise for you. It’s on the kitchen table at home.”  
“Stop it, Mom! You’re gonna make be burst with excitement.”  
“I know, I know. We’re almost home.”  
As the car pulled into the driveway, Mia wondered what the surprise could be. After all, what could be more exciting than the Pokémon she was getting tomorrow? Mia got out of the car and walked through the entryway straight into the kitchen. On the table sat a paper-wrapped cylindrical tube. On it was written, “To: Mia From: Mom & Dad.”  
“I wonder what it could be,” said her mother.  
“I thought you knew, Mom!” exclaimed Mia.  
“Well, I have an idea, but your father is the one who actually got it. Speaking of whom, where is he?”  
“Right behind you,” said Mia’s father, lifting her up into the air.  
“Eek! Daddy! Don’t scare me like that!” laughed Mia.  
“What is it, dear? What did you get her?”  
“Oh, um, …….” Mia’s father whispered something into her mother’s ear.  
“Really? But how do you know when……?”  
“Relax, just trust me on this. Mia, go ahead and open it. Be gentle with it”  
“Ok, Daddy.”  
Mia carefully tore off the wrapping paper. The cylindrical tube slowly revealed itself to be hollow and glass. Inside was a Pokémon Egg. Mia lit up with excitement.  
“I thought you weren’t giving me this until tomorrow!”  
“Well, it does have to hatch still, so you might be walking around with just the Egg until then. Why don’t you try picking it up?”  
Mia cautiously lifted the tube.  
“It’s warmer than I thought, and not as heavy as I expected it to be.”  
“Yep. I would’ve hatched the Egg myself otherwise, just to be safe.”  
Mia took a step forward. The Egg began to glow. Mia inhaled sharply.  
“It’s hatching! It’s hatching! Did you plan this, Daddy?”  
“Yeah, I figured you’d wear yourself out running around with it otherwise.”  
“It’s so pretty,” said her mother.  
The glow began to fade. In the place of the Egg, there was a Pokémon.


	2. Path

Chapter 2: Path   
“Hello?” called Marie, as she walked into the house. Strange, she thought, Mom was home less than an hour ago. As she came into the kitchen, she noticed a note on the countertop. She picked up the note and bean to read.  
“Dear, your grandfather collapsed at the Gym today. I’m leaving right  
now to help your father and grandmother deal with the situation. There’s food  
in the refrigerator. Don’t forget to pack for your journey. And your starter is on  
the table. Hopefully, this thing with your grandfather resolves itself soon  
. Call me on videophone once you get to the Oreburgh Pokémon Center.  
Ok, gotta go,  
love you, bye.”  
An image of her mother writing the note flashed in Marie’s mind. It seemed eerily accurate. Her mother received the call about Grandpa, then immediately began rushing about, organizing things in a flash. She quite clearly had written the note last, almost as an afterthought, before dashing out the door.  
The vision quickly passed. Marie, being more hungry than curious at the moment, removed some leftovers from the fridge and mulled over the note while eating. Grandpa collapsed? I knew he wasn’t exactly in good health, but he wasn’t that far gone. Now, Mom and Dad are gone and won’t be here to see me start my journey. Speaking of which, I wonder what Pokémon Dad picked out for me.  
Marie glanced over to the Poké Ball sitting on the table. Another note, this one far smaller, was taped to the sphere.   
“Marie, here is the one I picked out for you.  
She should be relatively easy to train, as she is young.  
To open the PokéBall, press the small white circle on the front.  
This should expand the PokéBall to about three times its normal volume.  
Next, either toss the PokéBall lightly into the air (preferred for indoor settings) or throw it forward and call some verbal command that the Pokémon will recognize.  
For now, this one responds to “Go!” or “I choose you!”, however, this is easily changeable as long as you remember to make sure the Pokémon is aware of your current phrases.  
To return the Pokémon to its PokéBall in times of need, press the white button and call “Return.” This is unchangeable. Each PokéBall comes with a pre-set phrase. You can custom-order PokéBalls at PokéMarts with your own pre-set phrases, but they are quite expensive. The standard mass-market models all have “Return!” as their phrase.  
Hope you two gals have a memorable journey together. See you when I get back from this temporary stint as a Gym Leader.  
Love, Dad.”  
“I might as well get to know her, whatever she is,” said Marie to herself, before remembering she was alone in the house. Glad no one was around to see that particular display of lunacy. Ok, take the PokéBall, toss it up, and say  
“I choose you!”  
A flash of white light as the PokéBall burst open. The Pokémon now stood on the table in front of her.  
“Chu?” it intoned.  
Marie, though instantly recognizing the Pokémon, pulled out her Pokedex for more information on it.  
” Pichu, the Tiny Mouse Pokémon. The electric sacs on Pichu's cheeks are small. If it tries to store more electricity than they can hold, Pichu will shock itself,” stated the Pokedex in a computerized, though clearly masculine, voice. “This Pichu knows both Thundershock and Charm.”  
“So, Dad sent me a Pichu, huh? What should I call you, little one?”  
“Pichu,” replied the Pichu.  
“All right, Pichu it is. Ready to go on an adventure?”  
“Chu!”  
“All right, all we have to do is get packed and we’ll be off.”  
***  
“Oh,” sighed Milli, “it’s only a Pichu.”  
“Why? What were you hoping for?”  
“An Ursaring?”  
“Are you insane? I can barely handle an Ursaring and I’m a full-blown Gym Leader. The League doesn’t hand that authority out to just anyone. Besides, Ursaring is fully evolved and therefore has its full potential mostly unlocked. That makes for a pretty boring starter. And again, they’re violent and dangerous. I’m sure you’ll have fun with Pichu and the other Pokémon you catch along the way.”  
“Ok, ok, I get it. I won’t go looking for an Ursaring for a few weeks at least.”  
“You know that they don’t live in the Hoenn region, don’t you?”  
“What? But that means I’ll never get one.”  
“Not necessarily. You’re just going to have to get some more experience under your belt. And also travel to Johto and hope to find a Teddiursa.”  
“But Johto is over two days away by boat. And I can’t afford that anyway.”  
“Like I said, experience. And you could work a few part-time jobs on your journey if you really wanted to visit Johto. Other ways to get money include defeating Trainers you meet along the way. The League sets up a bunch of Trainers each year to both act as a roadblock to immature Trainers and help them along if the immature Trainers manage to overcome them. They get some weird titles, though. Hiker, Swimmer, Youngster, etc.”  
“Sounds interesting. I should be off with Pichu now, though. Come along, Pichu.”  
“Don’t forget your Pokédex. Bye, honey. Keep me and your mother updated.”  
“’Kay,” said Milli taking the Pokedex from her father.  
Milli exited the Gym. Pichu proceeded to hop on Milli’s shoulder.  
“No, get in your PokéBall,” scolded Milli. “Return.”  
Pichu’s tail glowed white. It struck the ball and sent it back to Milli.  
“Stubborn little mouse,” mumbled Milli. “Fine, but don’t expect me to carry you.”  
“Pi!” said the Pichu, in a tone that implied As if I would stoop to that level.  
“I guess we’re on a journey together now. Where should we go first?” Milli paused for a few moments to think. “I know! We’ll go to Verdanturf and see Wally. It’s not far, but at least I’ll be able to say I got there all by myself. What do you say, Pichu?”  
Pichu didn’t respond, preferring instead to look indignantly at Milli.  
“Fine, I’ll carry you. How about that?”  
Pichu lit up and once again hopped onto Milli’s shoulder.  
“So, what do you say about Verdanturf now?”  
“Pichu! Pichu!”  
“All right, we’re off.”  
***  
The glow faded away slowly. The Pokémon left in its place looked up at Mia.  
“Chu,” it cried softly.  
“Awww, it’s a Pichu! Just like I always wanted! It’s adorable, Daddy!”  
“All right, settle down,” said her father. “Carefully put the tube back on the table and gently lift Pichu out.”  
Mia did as her father asked. Pichu smiled at her as she took it out of its tube.   
“It’s just a little one, so remember to be gentle with it.”  
“I know, Daddy. I’ve helped you lots of times at the Professor’s lab. Can I go show it to the Professor?”  
“He already knows about it, but you can show it to Old Professor Oak and give him a surprise. Do you remember him? He was my Professor back when he ran the lab. He may not run the place anymore, but he still wants to know everything about Pokémon that can be known.”  
“Yes, I know him, Daddy. He always played with me when you and the Professor were out doing fieldwork. He always said he looked forward to the day I became a Trainer. He said I have great potential as one.”  
“Did he now? Old Professor Oak is usually pretty accurate when it comes to these kinds of things. Well now you have a goal for when you set off on your journey in a couple of years.”  
“Yep, I can’t wait for that day to be here. I wish it was here already!”  
“Just slow down there, sweetie. It’s dangerous to go on a journey, and your Pokémon is newly hatched. You can show it off tomorrow at the party, but you’ll still be here for a few years. You can build up your bond with Pichu during that time, and it may even have evolved before you set off.”  
“I guess so. So anyway, what are the plans for tomorrow?”  
***  
Marie stepped outside her house and began walking toward the route exiting her hometown of Sandgem.   
Mom and Dad are in Hoenn. The Professor is busy. My friends have already started their journeys. Today’s been kind of rough, but I’ll get through it at least, thought Marie.  
“Marie! Marie!” called a voice. “I’ve got something for you!”  
Marie turned around. The professor’s assistant was running to catch up with her.  
“Here you go. Five genuine PokéBalls. I noticed the Professor forgot to give you them when he gave you your Pokédex.”  
“Thanks,” said Marie, “I’ll just be off then. See you when I get back.”  
“Bye, Marie!”  
Marie kept walking. Soon, she was on Route 202. Tall grass surrounded her, but she felt safe sticking to the path.  
“Looooooooooon!” wailed an object falling from the sky. The Pokémon landed on the ground in front of Marie. She pulled out her Pokédex to examine it.  
“Drifloon, the Balloon Pokémon. It tugs on the hands of children to steal them away. However, it gets pulled around instead. Drifloon are most often found at Valley Windworks in the Sinnoh region”  
“What’s one doing all the way out here?” Marie wondered aloud.  
Drifloon looked up feebly at Marie. “Drif…,” it whimpered.  
“Poor thing. How are we going to deal with this predicament, Pichu?”  
“Pi. Pichu.”  
“Oh right, I have PokéBalls now! If I catch it, it should be safe until we reach the Jubilife Pokémon Center. Here goes.”  
Marie took a PokéBall from her bag. She tapped Drifloon with it, reasoning that a toss might injure the Balloon Pokémon further. The PokéBall opened and a flash of red light engulfed Drifloon. The ball wobbled, and then, “Ding!”   
“Ok, good. Now we can keep it safe while on the way to Jubilife. Oh, and I guess we just caught our first Pokémon, Pichu! Another friend for our adventures.”  
THUD!  
Marie looked up. Dark clouds were swiftly racing toward their location.  
“We better hurry, Pichu. Sounds like a thunderstorm is on the way.”  
***  
Milli walked out of Mauville and on to Route 117. A path with lush grass stretched out before her. A few hours later, she began to get hungry. She saw a building up ahead.  
“You hungry, Pichu?”  
Pichu nodded.  
“Let’s just get to that building up there and we’ll stop and eat.”  
They arrived at the building shortly. It turned out to be the now abandoned Day Care. The windows were broken, the door was gone, the whole thing gave off an air of forgottenness.  
“Mom told me about this place. Apparently, an old couple who loved Pokémon would raise them for their Trainers if the Trainers couldn’t hold onto them for a while. They passed on a few years before I was born. The new one is all the way out in Pacifidlog Town. I don’t know why, this building still looks fine to me.”  
Milli and Pichu relaxed, eating lunch and looking at the sky. Suddenly, a Pokémon scurried inside the building.  
“What was that?”  
“Chu?”  
“Let’s go check it out Pichu. It’ll be our first catch. We gotta be smart though. Dad only gave me a few PokéBalls to use.”  
Milli entered the building. It was dim, and there was no sign of the Pokémon. Milli was caught unprepared when it jumped from the ceiling and landed on her head.  
“Ahhh, get it off, get it off,” she screamed. “Oh, I have an idea! Pichu, use ThunderShock!”  
Pichu gathered electricity in its cheeks and unleashed it in a small lightning bolt. “Pichuuuu!” Though it was weak, the ThunderShock hurt the Pokémon enough to knock it off Milli.  
“Oh, I know that Pokémon,” said Milli, pulling out her Pokédex.  
“Surskit, the Pond Skater Pokémon. From the tips of its feet, Surskit secretes an oil that enables it to walk on water as if it were skating. This Pokémon feeds on microscopic organisms in ponds and lakes.”  
“It’s a Surskit. The only Bug/Water type Pokémon yet discovered. Let’s get it Pichu! Use ThunderShock again!”  
“Chuuuuu!”  
The bolt struck Surskit. Surskit fell over.  
“All right, now go, PokéBall!”  
Milli threw the PokéBall at Surskit. The PokéBall hit Surskit, opened, and engulfed the bug in a red glow. The PokéBall wobbled back and forth three times then, “Ding!”  
“All right, we caught a Surskit! Now let’s get out of this dusty old place and back on our way to Verdanturf.”  
The pair, along with their newly acquired Surskit, exited the Day Care and once again set foot on Route 117. Pichu tugged on Milli’s shirt and pointed at the sky.  
“Looks like rain,” said Milli.  
***  
The party was winding down. Mia had already finished showing off her Pichu to everyone in town. Her friends had been envious, as she knew they would. She only had one problem. It involved the journey part of being a Trainer. She walked up to her parents as the last of the guests left.  
“Mom? Dad? Can I ask you guys something?”  
“Sure, go right ahead,” said her mother.  
“Well, you see, I know you already got me this Pichu and everything, but can I ask just for one more thing?”  
“You can ask, at least,” assured her father.  
“Ok, well, um, canIstartmyjourneyearlyliketodayortomorrowIknowit’salottoaskbutIthoughtmightbeopentotheideaandbesidestenisn’tthatmucholderthaneightwhydotheymakeyouwaitsolong?”  
“Slow down, slow down!” said her mother. “What do you think, honey?”  
“I really don’t want her going yet. She’s only eight. She’s not exactly ready for a journey yet.”  
“I have an idea. Why don’t we let her go to Pewter on her own? Brock lives there. She can go stay with him for a few days once she gets there and then we can pick her up. Does that sound better than a full-fledged journey?”  
“Yeah, it does. Okay, what do you say, Mia? Would you like to travel to your Uncle Brock’s and stay for a few days?”  
“Yes, yes, yes! That would be great! I’ve gotta start packing right away. Come on, Pichu!”  
Mia went inside the house to gather her things. Clothes, water, food, and other various necessities went into the bag.   
“I haven’t been to Uncle Brock’s in a while, Pichu, and you’ve never been there. It’s kinda chaotic, even though most of his siblings have moved out already. Technically, he’s not really my uncle. It’s more of an honorary title for being friends with my parents for such a long time.” Mia kept rambling to Pichu about her uncle while Pichu wandered around her room.  
“Miiiiaaaa?” said her father, poking his head in the door. “I’ve got something for you before you set off.” He handed her a spherical object. It was purple and white, with two pinkish protrusions in the purple section. AN “M” was printed on the purple section.  
“What is it?” asked Mia.  
“It’s a Master Ball, capable of catching any Pokémon without fail. It’s very valuable. Try not to use it unless necessary.”  
“All right, I’ll be careful. I’m all packed and ready to go. Bye, Daddy. See you soon.”  
“Have fun. Be careful around strangers.”  
“Have fun, Mia. Are you sure you have everything you need?”  
“Yes, Mommy. Bye, see you soon too. I’m gonna get going now. I have this feeling that it’s going to rain.”  
***


	3. Storm

CRASH!  
“Wow! That was loud,” shouted Milli, partially deafened by the noise. “We should head back to the old Day Care and take shelter.”  
They ran back to the Day Care. As soon as they were inside, Milli turned to look out the window. Sheets of rain were pouring from the clouds. The ground was already starting to flood.  
“Yeesh. That was close. Ok, let’s meet our new Pokémon for real, Pichu. Go, Surskit!”  
Surskit emerged from its PokéBall, accompanied by the usual flash of light.  
“Skit! Skit!” it cried, scuttling around on the floor. “Surskit! Sur! Surskit!”  
“What are you so worked up about? Are you really that mad that I caught you?”  
“Skit! Skit!” it cried again, but now, it was more urgent.  
“Hmmmmm. I wish I had some sort of Pokémon translator for times like this.”  
“Skiiiiiiiitttt!” wailed Surskit as it quickly dashed to the door.  
Milli looked toward the door. At last, she realized what Surskit had tried to tell her. She heard slight knocking on the door. She ran to the door and opened it, hoping whoever was there would forgive her for not opening the door sooner. On the steps stood a small child.  
“Come in, come in,” said Milli. “We’ll get you out of this rain and dry you off, poor thing. How long have you been out there”  
“Thank you, Miss. I’ve only been at the door for a minute. I was about to head inside when I saw you run in and thought maybe you lived here. Momma taught me to always knock before entering a house.”  
“Well, that’s good. Now I don’t feel too bad. My name’s Milli. What’s yours?”  
“Molina, leader of Team Storm.”  
“Team Storm? Is that like Team Rocket?”  
“No, not at all. My team is about helping humans and Pokémon get along even better.” Molina’s eyes grew starry. “We’re out to change the world.”  
“That’s great and all, but how old are you? You don’t look like you should be wandering around on your own. And you definitely don’t look like you’re old enough to lead an organization like that.”  
“To tell the truth, I’m the only member right now. I’m only six. I got separated from my mother in Verdanturf chasing that Surskit right there. I was hoping it could be my first Pokémon.”  
“Well, I can help you find your mother at least. She’s probably worried out of her mind. I’m also heading to Verdanturf. And you need to wait before you start recruiting for your team. Wait until you can actually be certified as a Trainer. In the meantime, make friends who support your goals, and you’re sure to reach them someday.”  
“Okay, Miss. I think I’ll follow your advice.”  
“Don’t call me Miss. I’m only eleven. And, as of right now, you can consider me the second member of your team.”  
“Really? That’s so nice of you, Miss!”  
“Why do you insist on calling me Miss? Just call me Milli.”  
“Momma taught me to always be polite. She said it can get you places. And I need to get places if I ever want people to join me.”  
“I can see her point. But you just call me Milli from now on, okay?”  
“Okay.”  
***  
Drip. Drip. Drip. A light rain had started to fall around Marie. She looked around for shelter. The rain began to fall more swiftly. Marie kept walking at a quick pace, keeping a lookout for shelter.  
“Pi! Pichu!” Pichu pointed at something in the distance.  
Marie looked in the direction Pichu had indicated. There was a small cottage. The rain fell even quicker now, and the wind had begun to pick up, slanting it towards Marie as she ran to the cottage. A light was on in the window. The storm was growing worse. Lightning was now flashing over and over, followed by the immense crash of thunder. Marie pounded on the door, desperate for someone to come to the door before the storm got worse. The door opened. A small blonde child stood at the door.  
“Can we come in?” begged Marie.  
“Grampa, there’s someone here. She wants to come in the house for some reason.”  
“Let her in, Adelie. She’s probably drenched.”  
“You can come in, lady. Grampa said it’s okay.”  
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”  
Marie entered the small cottage. It was fairly nice. It was warm, and a brown carpet coated the floor. The room was bathed in warm light from lamps scattered throughout. An old man sat in a recliner in the corner, reading a book.  
“Thank you, mister, for letting me stay here until the storm passes.”  
“No problem, dear. May I ask what you are doing out here?”  
“I just started my journey. This is my Pokémon, Pichu.”   
“Nice to meet you, Pichu. Does Pichu get along well with children?”  
“I’m pretty sure Pichu gets along with the little ones. And the reason you ask is….?”  
“Adelie loves Pokémon. Would you mind letting your Pichu play with her?”  
“Of course I’ll let her play with Pichu. Pichu, go play with her. You two can have fun together.”  
“Pichu!” Pichu ran off to play with the little girl.  
“Now, on a more serious note, how much do you know about Pokémon healthcare? I currently have a Drifloon stabilized in a PokéBall. It fell out of the sky a ways back. It seemed seriously injured. If you know anything, I would really appreciate the help.”  
“I know some basic first-aid. It should be enough to keep Drifloon safe until you reach Jubilife City. Come, let’s go to another room and keep this one out of Adelie’s sight.”  
The old man and Marie walked to the back of the cottage. The old man instructed Marie to wait while he acquired supplies from another room. He came back with bandages, gauze, isopropyl, all the works of first-aid.   
“Let the Drifloon out of its PokéBall.”  
Marie did as she was told.  
“This doesn’t seem good. Drifloon has some fairly serious wounds, coupled with exhaustion. If you hadn’t come along and captured it, Drifloon would likely have become food for other wild Pokémon. The best I can do is patch it up a little. Once I do that, return it to its PokéBall. That should keep it stabilized until you reach the Pokémon Center in Jubilife.”  
“But Drifloon will make it, right?” Marie’s voice was tinged with worry. The old man began to do his work on Drifloon.  
“Yes, it should be fine. As I said, these would have constituted a life-threatening danger in the wild, but you happened to be there at just the right time. Perhaps fate has a plan in store for you two. Anyway, the nurse at the Center will be able to give you a better assessment of Drifloon’s condition. Everything will be all right.”  
“That’s good to know. Ummm, mister, can I, uh, stay here for…a little while?”  
“Call me Mr. Bitterleaf. You can weather the storm here, and you’re welcome to stay the night. It’s just me and my granddaughter here. Her mother passed away recently, and her father passed on years ago. She’s growing up so fast. She already wants to be a Trainer, and she’s only got three years to wait until she can get her Trainer’s license. But I digress. Your clothes are soaking wet. I do hope you have extra clothes. Neither mine nor Adelie’s will fit you.”  
Marie held up her Bag. “Yep. ‘Always pack an extra change of clothes. You’ll never know when you need them’.”  
“Excellent advice, that is. It rings true for any traveler. You can change in Adelie’s room. Have Adelie show you the way.”  
“My name’s Marie, by the way.”  
“Good to know. Now come along. My granddaughter will show you to her room.”  
They walked back to the front of the cottage.  
“Can you show me your room, Adelie? I need to change out of these soaked clothes.”  
“Okay. Come on, it’s this way. Pichu, stay here. I’ll be right back.”  
Adelie led Marie to her room and let her in. The walls were a dark forest green. Toys were strewn across the floor. A bed with a pink quilt lay along the far edge of the room. A small window at eye level would have let in light, save the storm raging outside.  
“This is my room. The toys are mine, don’t play with them. Don’t sleep in here. I’ll leave you alone to change, but be quick about it.”  
Adelie closed the door. Marie was alone in the room.  
***  
Mia had been walking for hours. The sky was overcast, but it hadn’t begun raining, as Mia had earlier predicted. The entrance to a small wods was up ahead.  
Those must be the New Viridian Woods, thought Mia. The New Viridian Woods was a project undertaken by Viridian City to slowly integrate itself with Viridian Forest. The first step was surrounding the whole city with trees. Mia approached the grove of trees. A signpost had been planted there.  
The sign read, “New Viridian Woods: Getting Back To Nature”.  
As soon as they entered the trees, the light grew dimmer. A greenish tint was cast over all objects within this small forest.  
“Pidgggge!” screeched something as it flew by her.  
“Spearrr!” went another, chasing the first.  
“Wow, a Pidgey! And a Spearow! I wish I could catch them. But Daddy said not to use this unless necessary, and I don’t think wanting to catch one qualifies. Oh, well, on we go.”  
“Pipi! Pipi! Pipi!” Pichu cried urgently.  
“What is it, Pichu? What’s wrong?”  
Pichu unleashed a ThunderShock, deflecting the lightning bolt away from Mia. Mia froze in shock. Where can we hide, where can we hide, where can we hide, was the only thought crossing Mia’s mind. She spotted a dark hole a little distance away.  
“Come on, Pichu. This way. Run. It won’t help us stay dry, but at least the lightning can’t reach us inside that cave up ahead.”  
Pichu nodded its head in agreement. The two ran into the cave. Another bolt came down, striking right next to the entrance of the cave. The thunder echoed at an impossible volume.  
“It’ll be okay, it’ll be okay,” Mia repeated to herself, attempting to stay calm and shake off her brush with death. “Ow. Pichu, why did you bite me?”  
But this time, Pichu was frozen. Mia turned around. A colony of Zubat were rising from their slumber, awakened by the crash of superheated air. Mia could only hope the rest didn’t notice her. She sat perfectly still and waited.  
***  
“So, tell me, what made you want to start this Team Storm of yours?”  
“Well, I’ve loved Pokémon since I was a baby, according to my momma. And I’ve seen some people treat their Pokémon badly. My team will be dedicated to freeing those Pokémon, as well as helping good Trainers become great Trainers.”  
“Wow, that’s a very noble goal you have. I’ve got to say, I envy you, Molina. You’re only six, and you’ve got your whole life figured out. I’m eleven, and I still don’t know what to do. That’s why I’m on this journey. To figure out if I should be a Trainer, or a Coordinator, or a Professor, or all sorts of things.”  
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out. My momma says it’s rare for adults to even know what they wanna do, and they’ve had more experience than even you. And if you can’t figure something out, you can always come back to me and my team.”  
“Thanks. That’s sweet of you. Now, onto another subject. You said you got separated from your momma chasing this Surskit. Why were you chasing it if you’re not even allowed to have a Pokémon yet?”  
“I wanted it to be my first Pokémon. I was gonna try and convince my mom to hold onto it until I was old enough, but you’ve caught it now. At least Surskit are plentiful. I’ll find another one soon.”  
“So you ran off after the Surskit, and your mom couldn’t keep up?”  
“Not exactly. I left my house a little while ago telling her I was going to visit Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center. My mother is good friends with the Nurse Joy in Verdanturf. But instead I followed Surskit. And then it started raining, and here we are.”  
“First thing I’m doing after this storm is taking you to your mother so that she doesn’t worry any longer. Then, I’m going to visit Wally. He’ll help me decide what Gym to challenge. And I’ll be off to that Gym in a heartbeat.”  
“Sounds interesting. Now tell me, do you see that dim glow in the corner over there?”  
“Yes, I do see it. Strange.”  
Milli moved toward the glow.  
***  
Marie peeled off her wet clothes one piece at a time. The wet T-shirt hit the ground first, followed by shorts, socks, and lastly, undergarments. She removed the dry clothes from her Bag and spread them out on Adelie’s bed. She put on her undergarments and sat down on the child’s bed, glad to be out of her wet clothes. She laid down on the bed, the pillow nestling her head in warm softness. She drifted off to sleep.  
She was at her grandfather’s Gym in Hoenn. Her parents were there too. Her grandfather was in a wheelchair. That was new. The last time she had seen him he was walking perfectly fine. “What will we tell Marie?” said her mother. “I don’t know,” replied her father, but we only have a few days to figure it out. She’ll be calling soon from Jubilife.” Knock, knock, knock, knock…..  
A soft knocking woke Marie.  
“Marie? Are you still in there? Are you okay?” she heard Mr. Bitterleaf call to her through the door.  
“Yes, I’m fine. I just sort of fell asleep. It was really comfy in here. I’ll be out in just a minute.”  
Marie quickly dressed the rest of the way and exited the room. She made her way back to the living area. Adelie was curled up on the floor with Pichu. Both were fast asleep.  
“Awww, they look so cute together. We’ll be staying the night. Is there a place I can sleep?”  
“You can sleep in Adelie’s room. I only woke you to make sure you were okay She sleeps in my room on stormy nights anyway. It’s pretty late, we can move them now. Could you get Adelie? She’s small, but she’s getting heavy for me at my age. Pichu is a much lighter burden. Be gentle not to wake them.”  
Marie carried Adelie to her grandfather’s room and laid her on the large bed. A smile graced the sleeping child’s face. Marie took Pichu from the elderly man’s arms and carried it to the child’s room. She again laid down on the bed, settling in for a long night’s sleep.  
***  
The entrance to the cave darkened as hundreds of Zubat flew past. Mia kept still among the swarm around her. Pichu was too terrified to move. The entrance grew brighter as the last of the Zubat fluttered out into the raging stormy night.   
Too close, thought Mia. They’ll be back soon, and we won’t have been able to leave. If only this storm hadn’t come along, we’d be out there, setting up a tent to sleep in or maybe be at the Viridian Pokémon Center already and halfway to Uncle Brock’s house.  
“Pichu, what are we gonna do when they come back? You’re too little to fight all of them. Maybe they’ve got some sort of leader you can beat and they’ll leave us alone. The question is, which one is the leader?”  
Mia and Pichu laid in wait for the Zubat swarm to return. Hours went by, and still the storm raged with no sign of its return. The two began to fall asleep upon the dirt floor of the cave.  
Flutter, flutter, flutter. The sound of Zubat returning to the cave after an unsuccessful hunt in the rainstorm.  
“Get ready, Pichu. Look for a big Zubat. Or even a Golbat. That should be the leader.”  
The horde descended into the cave, enveloping Mia and Pichu.  
“Pichu, use ThunderShock!”  
“Chuuuu!” A small bolt of electricity felled a Zubat.  
“Try again!” Another Zubat down.  
“This’ll never work,” Mia cried desparately. “What are we gonna do?”  
The Zubat were angry now. They began attacking Pichu and Mia. They knocked all of her belongings to the ground. The Master Ball hit the ground and opened, emitting a flash of light. It captured something in the middle of the swarm. The Zubat calmed down instantly. It appeared that their leader had been captured. The Master Ball that her father had advised her against using was now all used up, and for what? Probably just a Zubat. What would she tell her father, that his prized possession had been wasted on one of the most common Pokémon in the land?   
Mia changed her train of thought. At least she was safe now. And the storm seemed to be dissipating. The cave entrance was growing brighter. Brighter than it should have. It couldn’t be day yet. Then Mia noticed the brightness was getting closer. Someone was walking toward her with a flashlight.  
***


	4. Light

Chapter 4: Light  
Milli crept toward the dim orange light in the corner of the building. Molina followed closely behind her. A small, glowing orange sphere was floating just above the ground. It spun slowly in the air.  
“What is it?” Milli wondered aloud. Milli reached out to touch the sphere.  
“No! Don’t touch it. We don’t know what could happen,” warned Molina.  
“Right, right,” said Milli. She opened her bag and slowly lifted it until it engulfed the sphere. The sphere now somewhere safe, Milli turned and asked, “What now?”  
“The storm seems to have let up. Let’s get going to Verdanturf so my Mommy can stop worrying and you can continue on your journey.”  
“Surskit, return. Ok, come on.”  
Milli opened the door to the abandoned Day Care. Scattered gray clouds raced across the sky. The air was cool and a light breeze was blowing from the direction of Verdanturf. The girls began walking toward their destination. It was a quiet day. There were no chirps from the bird Pokémon and the insect Pokémon were also oddly quiet.   
“Hey, Milli.”  
“Yeah?”  
“Are you gonna give your Surskit a nickname?”  
“I hadn’t really thought about it. I didn’t give one to Pichu. I’m not good at coming up with nicknames anyway.”  
“Can I suggest one for Surskit then? It hasn’t been long enough since you caught it to require the services of the Name Rater.”  
“Sure, go for it.”  
“I was thinking its nickname could be ‘Ame’.”  
“’Ah-may’? Where did you come up with that?”  
“I don’t know. It just seemed to fit it.”  
“’Ame’ it is then. Come on out, Surskit.”  
Surskit emerged from its PokéBall. “Surskit!” it said.  
“What do you think about the name ‘Ame’?”  
“Skit skit. Surskit.” Surskit chirped happily.  
“Well, I think she agrees. From now on, Surskit will be called ‘Ame’. Now return, Ame.”   
“Hey! I think I see the Verdanturf Town Limits sign. We’re almost there!”  
“Yeah, I can see the Pokémon Center. Race you there?”  
“You’re on!”  
A few minutes later, Milli arrived at the front door of the Verdanturf Pokémon Canter. Molina caught up a few seconds later.  
“Here we are, the Verdanturf Pokémon Center,” said Milli.  
“I can see Auntie Joy inside. I can just have her take me home later. I guess this is the part where we say goodbye.”  
“Yeah, I guess it is. Farewell, Molina. If you’re ever in trouble, you can count on me.”  
“Thanks. Goodbye, Milli. I hope we meet again someday.”  
Molina entered the Pokémon Center. The nurse inside saw her and a look of relief washed over her. The nurse made eye contact with Milli and silently thanked her with a nod. Milli turned her back on the Pokémon Center and began walking toward Wally’s house.  
***  
The light grew brighter as it approached Mia, who was huddled in a corner of the cave.  
“Hello?” called a voice from beyond the light. “Is anyone in this cave? It’s a Zubat roost, and I don’t want anyone getting hurt. I saw someone run in here. Where are you?”  
“O-Over here,” said Mia quietly.  
“Huh? Come again? I don’t see you.”  
“Over here,” repeated Mia, slightly louder.  
The light shined in her direction, illuminating Mia’s crouching form. A woman began to take shape behind the light. The woman wore a dark blue vest that matched the blue of her hat. Long, spiky, cerulean hair cascaded down from beneath the hat.  
“Hi,” the woman said brightly. “I’m Officer Jenny and I’m here to help. What happened in here?”  
“Officer Jenny! I’m so glad you’re here. I took shelter from the storm, but this turned out to be a Zubat roost. Originally, they went out hunting and ignored us, but when they returned, I panicked and attacked without thinking. Then, they started to swarm me and Pichu here. I…I dropped my Daddy’s prized Master Ball that he gave to me for emergency use and caught something. I don’t know what, but the Zubat left us alone after that. I was just going to my uncle Brock’s house in Pewter and my parents let me travel there with Pichu for protection.”  
“Slow down a minute. How old are you, dear?”  
“I just turned eight the other day.  
“And your parents let you off on your own?”  
“Only sort of. The plan was for me to get to Viridian by myself and then I would call Uncle Brock and ask him to get me from the Pokémon Center there. It was just to let me see what a journey was like without actually setting off on one.”  
“I see. You look vaguely familiar too. I can definitely see those two letting their daughter go off early to get a taste of adventure, if your parents are who I think they are.”  
“They probably are,” said Mia, as she whispered their names into Officer Jenny’s ear.   
“I knew it. All right, my police scooter’s outside. I can get you all the way to Pewter if you want.”  
“Oh, could you? Please? I want to get to Uncle Brock’s as soon as possible. I haven’t seen him in forever.”  
A strange look crossed the officer’s face.  
“Wait a minute. Brock? The world-renowned Pokémon Breeder? You’re his niece?”  
“He’s my honorary uncle, no actual relation.”  
“That explains it. Well, let’s see what’s in that Master Ball. We’ll do it the easy way, that way whatever is in there doesn’t attack us.”  
“Easy way? What’s that?”  
“We scan it with the Pokédex. Professor Oak came up with this feature a few tech generations ago. It allows you to gather basic information about the Pokémon inside any PokéBall. The basic version, which is what’s given to us officers, tells species and shows a picture of the Pokémon inside the ball, as well as its current energy levels. The more advanced version is used by the various professors and researchers to determine other things, like moves and how near it is to evolution. So, let’s find out.”  
Officer Jenny took out a Pokédex. She pressed a blue button labeled “Scan”.  
“Scanning Master Ball,” said a feminine automated voice. “Energy level: Medium. Likely to be active. Low possibility of being in an aggravated state. Species confirmed: Zubat.”  
An image of the Zubat popped up on the screen.  
“That’s odd,” said Officer Jenny. “It’s doubtful, but maybe Brock will know about this.”  
“What’s so odd?” said Mia. “Are Zubat not supposed to be that color?”  
***  
A slender beam of sunlight entered the window and alit on Marie’s eyelids. The bright light woke Marie and she squinted toward the window. She rolled out of bed and began getting ready for the day. She counted herself lucky not to have been plagued by nightmares of worry for Drifloon. But something was still on her mind. Again, she had dreamt of her grandfather’s Gym and seen him in a wheelchair. There had been no sound in this dream, save one lone word. She had been trying to lip-read her parents’ mouths when that word rang out like a thunderclap. She looked out the window and whispered, “Kiri.” That was a name she hadn’t heard in almost three years. She put the thought out of her mind and exited Adelie’s room.  
Mmmm, thought Marie. Something smells delicious.  
She entered the kitchen to find Mr. Bitterleaf cooking up a hearty breakfast of potatoes, eggs, and bacon. Mr. Bitterleaf noticed the quizzical look on Marie’s face.  
“Ah! I bet you haven’t had this kind of food much. Well, I’m from Unova originally, and this constitutes a good old all-Unovan breakfast. You can’t beat meat and potatoes in Unova. Strengthens your muscles and gives you plenty of energy for the day. I’ll send you off right and full.”  
“Thank you so much for the food and shelter, Mr. Bitterleaf. We are ever so grateful. Is there some way we can repay you?”  
“Don’t worry about it. Wait, no. Actually, come back in a few years. I’ll have you teach Adelie what it means to be a Pokémon Trainer.”  
“You can count on it. We have to be off as quick as we can, so that Drifloon can get proper medical treatment at the Pokémon Center.”   
“Yes. Go along now. I don’t want to delay you any longer.”  
“Come on, Pichu. We’ll come back some day, and you’ll be able to play with Adelie again.” Marie turned toward the blond-haired child. “I guess I’ll be seeing you in a few years. Learn as much as you can before I get back.”  
“I will. Thanks for letting me play with your Pichu.”  
“Anytime. Goodbye now,” said Marie, walking out the door into the bright light of the new day.  
“Goodbye,” cried the old man and little girl.  
Marie walked on toward Jubilife City. Around 6;00 p.m., she reached the outskirts of the town.  
“This city is huge. I can’t even see the Pokémon Center from here. Well, at least I have a map.”  
Marie took out her PokéGear to determine where the Pokémon Center was. She quickly located it and deduced that it wasn’t as far away as she had feared. Approximately forty-five minutes later, she arrived at the front door. Filled with trepidation, Marie opened the door and stepped into the soft light of the building.  
***  
Milli arrived at Wally’s house soon after leaving Molina at the Pokémon Center. She knocked on the front door.   
“Come in,” said a voice. “I’ll be down in a minute. Make yourself at home.”  
Milli walked through the door and entered a small antechamber. Continuing on, she found herself in a green-carpeted living room. A TV sat against the wall. It was playing the old classic Gone With The Whirlwind. A couple of brown rocking chairs sat opposite the TV. The house felt small on the inside, though it was cozy as opposed to cramped. Milli sat in one of the rocking chairs and waited for Wally to make an appearance. She heard footsteps coming down the stairs.  
A green-haired man was descending from the top floor. The man was thin, and gave off an air of frailty. That’s Wally? He doesn’t look like someone who should be giving advice to Trainers. thought Milli. Not exactly someone I would want to tell me how to go about on my journey. But Mom and Dad say he can give good advice to Trainers starting on their journeys so here I am.   
“Hello,” said the man. “My name is Wally, but you probably already knew that. What’s yours?”   
“I’m Milli. Mom and Dad sent me here to get advice on where to start my journey, but there’s no way you can make a living off of that. What else do you do?”   
“I usually just help the Contest Hall get organized, on account of health issues that prevent me from working too laboriously. But people say my advice is usually spot-on, so I do that on the side for free. So what advice do you want to ask for?”  
“Originally, I only had one question. But now I have two. I’m here to ask advice on where I should go for my first Gym Badge. I don’t want to follow in my parents’ footsteps exactly, but I do want to be a great Trainer. I was going to go defeat the Rustboro Gym first, but that seems impractical with Pichu as my Pokémon. The second question doesn’t have a lot to do with journeys. Do you have any idea what this is?”  
Milli slowly lifted the orange sphere out of her bag. The ball of light hovered in the air above her palm, rotating slowly. Wally leaned closer to get a better look at the strange orb.   
“I don’t know what that is,” said Wally. He reached out his hand to touch the sphere. Milli jerked it away before his fingers made contact.  
“Are you crazy? You don’t know what it is, and your first instinct is to touch it? A six-year-old would know better.”  
Wally’s eyes were glazed as he continued to reach toward the sphere. Milli was beginning to worry. Something felt very wrong. She left the chair and began slowly backing her way out of the house, keeping an eye on Wally, in case he decided to follow. Wally continued in his silent endeavor to touch the glowing orb. Milli was at the front door. Wally was in front of her, reaching for the ball.  
Maybe, I’ve got to find help. And I won’t show them the sphere. There’s something off about it, thought Milli.  
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.   
A low humming sound was being emitted from the ball that Wally had managed to touch while Milli was thinking. Wally disappeared. A book appeared. Milli was only able to read the title, The Meowth in the House, before the book vanished from view. She heard a noise coming from the upper floor. She dared to look up the staircase. A Gardevoir had appeared at the top. It seemed confused. It was looking at something behind Milli. Milli turned around and gasped in shock.  
***  
Mia was tired of riding on the police scooter. Her legs were sore and the constant bouncing had become annoying hours ago. At last, she saw the sign for Pewter City’s outer limits.  
“We’re here,” she shouted above the engine.  
Officer Jenny didn’t acknowledge her outburst. Continuing with the drive, she parked outside a modest house.  
“This is it, right?” she asked tersely.  
“Yeah. Why were you so quiet the whole way here?”  
“Do you want the long story or the short story?”  
“Well, we’re almost there. So the short story will be fine.”  
“All right then, here we go. It was about ten years ago. I was fresh out of the police academy and assigned to Pewter City to help with the fossil fraud exploits of Team Rocket. I was at the museum one day when this guy came in. He started going around telling everyone that he was back in town for the next few years while he studied to become a doctor. He introduced himself to me. Started hitting on me pretty much immediately. I was young back then, so I felt flattered. We went out for quite a while, but about a year after we started dating, he said there was another woman. I was initially furious, but he told me he didn’t mean it literally. There was just one girl he would never be able to give up on. Soon after we broke up, I was suddenly re-assigned to Viridian. I’ve avoided Pewter ever since because I didn’t want him to think I’d specifically asked for re-assignment. There’s a lot of stuff I skipped over, but that’s the basics of it.”  
“I don’t think you should have worried so much. My uncle isn’t one to hold something like that against you. And you definitely could have come back. I think he found the girl he lost. They’ve been together for about two years now.”  
“Really now? I didn’t think she was real, or at least that she was dead and he would eventually move on. That’s his house up there, isn’t it?”  
“Yep. I can walk the rest of the way if you don’t want to see my uncle.”  
“No, it’s fine. I’d like a chance to talk to him again after all these years.”  
They pulled up to a large white house with a red roof. A waist-high fence surrounded the building. The doors were open. People were hustling and bustling about inside. A tall man with tanned skin stood with his back to the doorway. He seemed to be giving orders to the ones inside. The officer drove to the front gate. The man turned around as he heard the beeping of the police scooter’s horn. His face lit up as he saw Mia.  
“Mia!” he said. “I wasn’t expecting you to be here. I was supposed to get you in Viridian at the Pokémon Center, wasn’t I?”  
“Yeah, but things got kind of bad in the woods, and Officer Jenny found me and offered a ride the whole way here.”   
“Thank you for bringing my niece here safely. It’s good to see you again. I’m sorry things ended the way they did with us.”  
“No, no. It’s ok. I haven’t come back here because I thought you’d thought I’d asked for re-assignment.”  
“I know you wouldn’t do that, La-,“ Officer Jenny cut him off.  
“Don’t say my name. I have to be leaving now, though if I may ask a favor?”  
“Anything you want.”  
“I want to see this girl, the one you were so hung up on. Your niece seems to think you finally found her after all these years.”  
“Um, well, she isn’t here right now exactly. She went to the League to get some paperwork that would allow her to move her Gym here by taking over the current building. Um, I know I have a picture around here somewhere.”   
He began searching his pockets for a picture when a blue flash of light suddenly swept through the room and a book dropped to the floor.  
“What was that?” he said. He bent down to pick up the book that had fluttered to the floor. The book was bound in brown leather. Gold lettering was engraved on the front. “Surskit, Wurmple, and Other Bugs of Hoenn: A Guide to Catching and Raising Various Insect Species,” read Brock. He flipped the book over but found no text on the back describing the book beyond the title being repeated. Opening the book, he found the introduction and began reading.  
“Hello there. This book is dedicated to my children, who have to put up with me and my Ariados on a daily basis. I grew up being taught that Bug Pokémon were creepy. But I caught a Spinarak on the first day of being a Pokémon Trainer and we’ve been inseparable ever since. The memories we share only deepen our bond with each passing day. Enough about me. I wrote this book to challenge the common assumptions about Bug Pokémon. With any luck, I’ll inspire the next generation to at least consider training Bug type Pokémon. I plan on turning this into a series. This book focuses on Hoenn for the specific reason I did not wish to uproot my family just for the purposes of my research. And now, without further ado, I present: Surskit, Wurmple, and Other Bugs of Hoenn: A Guide to Catching and Raising Various Insect Species: Volume 1.”  
“I’ve never heard of that book,” piped up Mia.  
“I haven’t either,” said Officer Jenny. “Which is strange because I happen to both be a fan of Bug type Pokémon and an avid reader of pretty much anything.”  
Brock closed the book. “I can’t find anything on this book. Not a publish date, not a city or town, nothing. There’s no way to identify where this book came from except the author’s name which is-“  
A second flash of blue light interrupted Brock’s sentence. The book disappeared into thin air, but almost nothing else changed.  
“That…was…weird,” said Officer Jenny.  
“Yes, very strange,” agreed Brock.  
“Well, I see something even weirder,” Mia chimed in.   
An imposing stone gray door covered in glowing blue runes stood before the three. With a start, Mia realized she could read the symbols carved on the granite slab. Enter, Mia, and travel your path. It’s all just a game. Find your way home from the other side. The only price to pay is freedom. Enter, Mia, and never will you be forgotten. Mia slowly approached the door. She gripped the Master Ball containing her Zubat and pressed the release button. A burst of blue light emanated from the Ball. Zubat’s form coalesced from the light. Brock’s eyes opened in shock, for Zubat was a brilliant yellow.  
“A yellow Zubat. I’ve never even heard of one of those. I know some can be born with a rare green coloring but this is completely new.”  
Mia gave the Master Ball to Brock. “I don’t need this anymore. Will you please give it to my father?”  
“Wait! Mia! What are you doing?”  
“The door compels me to enter. The cost was freedom. Zubat is now free to do as it pleases and I can enter the door.” As she said this, she pushed open the door. A familiar scene played before her eyes.  
“It’s…just a Pokémon Center,” said Officer Jenny.  
“This is still weird. Let’s just stay away from….Mia, come back!”  
But Mia was already through the door, and Brock learned the hard way that only those who the door chooses are let through as his hand slammed against an invisible barrier.  
“What can we do? My niece just walked into some weird door and I can’t do anything about it.”  
The door was slowly closing. Brock frantically tried to reach Mia, knowing it was a useless effort. Suddenly, the yellow Zubat dove toward the door.  
“Zubat?” said Brock questioningly. “But Mia gave you your freedom as the cost to enter the door.”  
They watched as Zubat also disappeared through the door just before it shut  
“But how can that be?” asked Brock. “Why couldn’t I do anything? Why could Zubat pass through that door but not me?”  
“I think your niece may have misinterpreted the door. Zubat saw her mistake and at that moment decided to stay with her and protect her. The cost wasn’t Mia giving the Zubat its freedom, but Zubat giving up its freedom to protect her. The door wouldn’t have opened if it didn’t think Zubat had truly given up its freedom.”  
“Well, at least a Pokémon Center is a safe place. As long as I stay calm, I can try to figure things out. First things first, I need to call her parents and tell them what happened.”  
“Good luck, Brock. I’ll file a report and get the police on this case.”  
“Get the police on what case?” A mysterious woman with dark green hair appeared behind them out of thin air.  
“Oh, hi, honey,” Brock said nervously. “Um, Mia sort of went through this door that appeared out of nowhere. We couldn’t do anything to stop her. There was some sort of barrier that I couldn’t get through. I was just discussing what to do with Officer Jenny here.”  
“Hello, Officer. I’ll help in any way I can. Did you call her parents yet?”  
“I was about to when you got home. I’ll go do that now.”  
Brock dialed his friends and prayed that they would pick up the phone, or he would have to deliver the news in person.  
“Hello?” said Mia’s father. “Brock? Are you there?”  
A voice called on her father’s end. “Who is it, dear?”  
“It’s Brock. I think Mia got there early.”  
“Oh wonderful! Let me talk to my brave little girl.”  
“About that,” said Brock, proceeding to explain all that had happened and apologize repeatedly and profusely.  
“Mia,” whispered her parents in simultaneous disbelief.   
Meanwhile, at the Pokémon Center on the other side of the door, Mia was confused. She remembered seeing a big door, but not much else. Zubat was with her, perched on her head like a Chatot and hissing at everyone that came near. The door at the front of the Pokémon Center opened. A girl came in who looked a few years older than Mia. The girl frantically spoke to the Nurse Joy running the Center. Mia couldn’t decipher what they were saying, but Nurse Joy’s brow furrowed as the girl’s gestures and tone became more frantic. She gave the Nurse a PokéBall and then sat down on one of the provided chairs. Mia approached the girl.   
“Hi,” said Mia. “My name’s Mia. Technically, I’m not old enough to be a Trainer, but I caught this Zubat by accident and my parents gave me a Pichu for my birthday. You seem worn out. What happened to you?”  
“Nen axadan’nan,” said the girl in the chair.  
Mia realized that it wasn’t the distance that confounded her senses. She literally couldn’t understand a word this girl said.  
***  
Light spilled from the building into the evening air. People milled about the lobby. Trainers sat around with their Pokémon, reading assorted magazines.A few Chansey, differentiated by their differently colored wristbands, hurried in and out through a door leading to the back of the center. A woman stood at the front desk. The woman had pink-red hair and wore the standard uniform for a Nurse Joy. Marie walked up to the counter and began telling the nurse about what happened.  
“It sounds like this Drifloon owes its life to you. You say an old man helped stabilize it after you caught it to protect it?” said the nurse, who like all the nurses, was a Joy.  
“Yes, that’s correct. Is Drifloon going to be all right?” asked Marie.  
“We’ll see. It’s in pretty bad condition if it couldn’t even continue to float around. It’ll need to be in intensive care for a few days, at the very least.”  
“A few days? Why so long? The stories I always hear end with the Pokémon being fixed with a night of rest.”  
“Normally, that would be the case. However, based on these medical charts, it’s severely malnourished and dehydrated. I don’t even know how it could have possibly been floating when you found it.”  
“It really wasn’t. It just fell from the sky. At the very least, Drifloon is safer here than with me on the road.”  
“Leaving already?” the nurse asked, eyeing Marie suspiciously.  
“Oh, no, no. That’s not what I meant. I just meant that I could breathe easier having made it here in time to give it a fighting chance. I’ll obviously be staying here until it gets better. Though tomorrow I’ll need to travel to the Jubilife TV headquarters to pick up some things and contact my parents.”  
“I’ll try to get in touch if anything goes wrong with Drifloon.”  
“Thank you.” Marie left the desk and went to find a spot where she could read one of the waiting room magazines.  
“Hey, wait a minute.”  
Marie turned around.   
“Why would Jubilife TV have your things?”  
“Um, no reason.” Marie glanced nervously to the side.  
Nurse Joy looked at Marie through camera-frame fingers.  
“What are you doing?”  
“You look aw-“. Nurse Joy’s eyes widened as a look of recognition shot across her face. “You’re her daughter, aren’t you? Of that lady who hosts the show about conspiracies and all that? That’s the most popular show in the Center. Though that’s mostly because it’s my favorite show and I control the remote. Everyone else just think she’s just an extremely lucky crackpot theorist with some admittedly insightful thoughts.” The nurse was exclaiming all this in a rather vocal manner and people were beginning to turn and look at the commotion.  
“Keep it down, keep it down. I don’t want people to know that. Right now, I’m just another Trainer with an injured Pokémon and there’s nothing special about me.”  
“I see what you mean. Ok then. Go get yourself settled in now. It won’t do any good to worry about Drifloon.”  
I’ve got more than just Drifloon to worry about, thought Marie as she remembered her dream from that morning. What’s going on, Mom and Dad? Is Grampa ok? Will you be back soon?  
Nurse Joy interrupted her troubled thoughts. “Can you get your mother’s autograph for me? It would mean a lot. Just have her make it out to “my number one fan, Ophelia. Before you ask, the answer is yes, my parents did enjoy Shakespeare’s Hamlet a little too much. Alas, poor Yorick. My brother fared much worse than I in their insanity.”  
“Right, right. I’ll just be going and getting settled in now.” Marie quickly walked away from the odd nurse. She loked around the lobby for somewhere to wait out the night. A girl approached Marie. The girl appeared to be quite young, but she had a yellow Zubat perched on her shoulder.  
“Mnhredii,” said the girl. “Icc mtiau tumu odunh fatac isgwtw eapy ou bapt brhcal tsaot hmyu iti nnti zomaiy lyeed shont ayhdm riyen cybnye pronueamc aoetgs dobtt vuerhglob eiahh tm nae aoer aenp?”  
Marie shook her head and blinked. She must’ve misheard the girl. “I don’t understand you,” said Marie.  
The other girl’s eyes widened. She didn’t say anything more to Marie. The girl picked up magazine after magazine and threw them to the floor one after another. Marie watched her run up to the Nurse in a desperate attempt to communicate with someone, but the girl’s efforts were in vain. The strange girl sat down, a look of utter bewilderment on her face. Marie approached the girl.  
“I know you can’t understand me, but I’ll do whatever it takes to help.” As she said this, Marie attempted to gesture what she meant.  
The strange girl suddenly threw her arms around Marie. The girl smiled with gratitude. Marie returned her smile warmly. The strange girl began to become frantic again. Marie tried to calm her down but her attempts were futile. The girl was pointing somewhere behind Marie. Marie turned around and watched as a mysterious gray door appeared in the lobby of the Pokémon Center  
***


	5. Door

Chapter 5: Door  
The strange runes engraved in the door emanated a deep blue light. The imposing slate gray slab stood before Milli. Milli looked around. Wally was nowhere to be found and the Gardevoir she assumed to be his was getting its bearings after the strange blue light had passed through the now seemingly-abandoned house twice. The Gardevoir turned toward Milli. It advanced, never taking its eyes off her.  
What does it want? thought Milli.  
Gardevoir’s eyes began to emit a soft blue light. A nearby PokéBall was levitated and placed in Milli’s hand. Gardevoir then pressed the button and returned to the PokéBall.  
Wally’s house now stood empty in the pale-warm light of the moon. The door was emitting a low hum. Milli turned to face the door and realized slowly that she was able to understand the symbols carved top to bottom upon it.  
Enter, Millicent. Your cost has been paid. Become the key and pass freely through this door and its kin. The song of the forest shall guide your way, but it is a deep, strange forest filled with winding paths. Beware the song, for it is filled with the allure of the beasts. Doubt not the two you meet, nor their words. Let them become one with the light as you have. Prevent the world from rising anew.   
The door was pleasantly warm to the touch. As Milli traced the runes with her fingers, wondering how she could understand them, the door faded to reveal a scene she had observed many times, the inside of a Pokémon Center. Two girls were staring right at her with wondering looks on their faces. Milli waved with her free hand, but the girls on the other side didn’t respond. Milli removed her hand from the door. The scene faded and was replaced with the gray door again. The door disappeared when Milli again placed her hand on it. She felt for the door with her other hand and found solid air where the door was expected.  
The door had no handle. Milli pressed her hand firmly against the door to no avail. Milli circled around to the back of the door and found the same runes carved on the back. When she touched her hand to the door again, the same scene played before her eyes, only now the smaller of the two girls was also touching the door as if tracing strange glyphs carved upon it. The taller girl placed her hand flat upon the door. Milli again tried to wave and got no response. Then, she placed her hand directly over the one pressed flat against the slab.  
A white glowing outline began to form around the hands. The door slowly became less and less solid with each passing second. Soon, Milli felt another hand grasping hers. The other hand closed its fingers around hers and began pulling her through the door. The door had become completely white light at this point, and Milli stepped through it onto the floor of the Pokémon center. The floor was slightly lower than she expected, and she stumbled a little. The girl whose hand was currently intertwined with Milli’s steadied her and then released her grip.  
The girl said something Milli didn’t quite catch.  
“Excuse me, could you repeat that?” asked Milli.  
“”, said the girl she had asked.  
Milli was unable to make heads or tails of the reply. She recalled the words on the door. She pulled the orange sphere out of her bag, and pointed to it. The other girl seemed hesitant. Milli smiled and placed her own hand on the floating orb. The other girl nervously reached out and touched the floating ball of light.  
“Are you sure this is safe?” asked the other girl. “What am I saying? I can’t understand you and you most likely can’t understand me. Anyway, here it goes. I’m Marie. This door just suddenly appeared here a few minutes ago. When I touched it, it became no longer solid. I felt someone on the other side. It felt like the person was falling. So I grabbed the hand as hard as I could and pulled up, trying to help whoever it was. And then you came tumbling through the door and started talking. I couldn’t understand you, but I got the gist of what you were saying by the confused look on your face. I also don’t understand what she,” and here Marie pointed to Mia, “is saying, but I do know this. Something very strange is going on. That being said, welcome to Jubilife. What’s your name?”  
“I can understand you now. I couldn’t before, but I can now,” said Milli. “Oh, and my name is Milli.”  
“That’s unlikely,” replied the girl. The girl then heard what she had said. “I can understand you now, too. Maybe she’d be helped by this, too.”  
The girl, who Milli had learned was named Marie, gestured to the small girl standing next to her to touch the light.  
**  
Marie waved her hand to beckon over the girl with the Zubat perched on her shoulder. She gestured to the orb and placed her hand upon it. The other girl followed suit.   
“Hi, I’m Mia, and I have no idea what you two are talking about because you’re speaking some weird foreign language.”   
“I bet you can understand us now,” said Marie. “Milli, this girl over here, seems to think the light is in some way able to facilitate communication between those who have touched it. I promised to help you earlier, but you might not have understood, so let’s try that again. My name is Marie. It’s nice to meet you, Mia.”  
“Hey, I understood you,” said Mia. “You said her name is Milli, right? Well, she’s definitely right about this light being strange. I wonder where it came from. We should name it so we don’t have to keep calling it ‘orange ball of light’ or ‘floating ball of light’.  
“Good idea,” said Marie. She turned to face Milli. “You’re the one who brought it here, Milli. What should we name this…thing?”  
“I wasn’t really considering giving it a name. How about, umm, the Pok…é…Sphere? PokéSphere? It seems like a good name to me. Kind of vague, easily mistaken for a quirky way of saying PokéBall. You know, in case unsavory types happen to know what it is and be after it.”  
That’s good. She’s also got suspicions about it. She’s probably trustworthy, thought Marie. Zubat girl interrupted her thoughts.  
“All in favor of PokéSphere, say ‘Aye’. “  
“Aye,” said the three girls simultaneously.  
“Jinx,” called Mia. “Can’t talk until I say your name.”  
Oh, great, thought Marie. This game. Truly a more annoying game has never been devised. Except maybe 52-pick-up. But it’s a close call. At least I can get this over with quickly.  
Marie walked over to Nurse Joy’s desk.  
“Excuse me. Can I borrow a pencil and some paper?”  
“Sure, go ahead.” Nurse Joy handed her the items.  
“Thank you,” said Marie.  
OK, now I just write this down and the game will be over in a few seconds. Marie held up the paper to Mia.  
“What’s my name? Well that’s easy. Your name is-. Hey, wait. Nice try, but you’re still jinxed.”  
“Nope. I got you to say ‘your name’.”  
“You tricked me,” Mia said indignantly.  
“Sure did,” said Marie. “My sister always did that to me when I was younger. Back to the matter at hand, what are you two doing here?”  
“What am I doing here? I’m honestly not sure. There was this weird door with weird symbols I could read on it and when I touched my hand to it I could see you two standing here on the other side. Then, for some reason, I guess I decided to walk through it,” explained Milli.  
“And your story, Mia?”  
“Well, the weird door is involved in my story too, but it went a little differently. I was visiting my uncle when a flash of blue light made this strange book appear-.”  
“Was it called The Meowth in the House?” interrupted Milli.  
“No, it was Surskit, Wurmple, and Other Bugs of Hoenn: A Guide to Catching and Raising Various Insect Species. Anyway, soon afterward, the book disappeared to who knows where with another flash of blue light, and then we noticed the door. It had some weird symbols on it and it made me want to open the door, so I did and here I am.”  
So they were both entranced to enter by the writing on the door. But I couldn’t read it earlier.  
Marie turned to look at the door. She realized, much to her surprise, that she could now read the symbols.  
Do not enter, Marie. You are free from this path. You must find her lest all fail. Discord and harmony revolve around one single decision. Make no mistakes.  
Strange words, thought Marie. I wonder what they mean by “find her”. And exactly what decision will plunge the world into chaos if I get it wrong?  
Marie blinked. The words on the door were different now.  
Find her. No mistakes.  
“Uh, just a thought, what does that writing on the door say to you two?”  
“It says, ‘Earn you way home.’” said Mia.  
“That’s weird,” said Milli. “It says something different for me. It says, ‘Bridge, key, forest, song’. The last time I read it, it was much longer. It kinda seems like the earlier message was distilled into four words.”  
“Mine did that, too,” said Mia. “I mean, it used to be a longer message. Yours, Marie?”  
“Yeah, me too,” said Marie. “Mine says ‘Find her. No mistakes.’ It was longer, but I didn’t memorize it before it changed. It’s probably significant that it says something different for each of us despite looking at the same door. Whatever these messages are, we should try to figure them out. Neither of you two are from here though, and you’ll probably want to get back to where you came from. Let’s keep in contact though. You both have a PokéGear, right?”  
“What’s a PokéGear?” asked Mia.  
“Essentially, it’s an old version of the PokéNav,” answered Milli. “If I remember correctly, it’s essentially a phone with a built in radio and map, right?”  
“Right. And by those answers, I can tell neither of you has one. While my PokéGear was a pretty penny, there are some quite heap ones that lack radio and map features, neither of which you two need. With Pokétch all the rage these days, PokéGear has fallen out of favor, despite being superior simply because it includes a phone capability that the Pokétch doesn’t have. I’ll pick some up tomorrow morning from the discount bin in the PokéMart. There are always a few in there that only have the capacity to call home and the emergency hotline. Since those are their only function, they are quite cheap, about 1000¥ apiece. For now, let’s just get some rest. It’s pretty late and I’ve had a long day. See you two in the morning.”  
Marie settled into a comfortable spot on the sofa and soon dozed off.  
**  
Mia wasn’t quite sure to make of the situation. The girl named Marie had fallen asleep about five seconds after she lay down. The other girl was sitting down, staring at the newly-named PokéSphere. Its light cast an orange glow on her face. She seemed to be contemplating something. The girl soon placed the PokéSphere back in her bag. Mia watched as Milli picked out a spot on the floor and rolled out her sleeping bag in front of Marie’s chosen sofa. Milli was soon out cold.   
Mia remained awake. She had realized over the course of her conversation with the other two that by walking through the door, she had probably caused a great deal of worry for her uncle and by extension parents. She decided to phone them using the Pokémon Center’s videophone and tell them what was going on. Twice she dialed her uncle’s number, and twice she was rewarded with the following message:  
“The Pewter City Gym is now closed. Please try again tomorrow.”  
And when she tried to call her parents, this happened:  
“The number you have dialed cannot be reached. Please hang up and try again.”  
Mia stared at the ground intently. Dark thoughts were starting to cloud her mind after the failed attempts to contact her family. She glanced around the room. Everyone else was either sleeping or on the brink of falling asleep. She looked toward Nurse Joy’s desk, but no one was there. Chansey could still be seen along the back hallway, but these ones wore slightly different wristbands, indicating that they were the night shift.  
Nurse Joy must have gone into the back to get some work done while everyone is sleeping, thought Mia. I should probably get some sleep, too, since I’ve got someone who offered to help me with my problems. Mia then remembered there was a Zubat on her shoulder.  
“I thought I released you before I went through the door, didn’t I?”  
Zubat made no response.  
“Also, why are you yellow? Zubat are supposed to be a dark blue color. I know that for a fact.”  
At this, Zubat emitted a loud, screeching noise. Mia covered her ears, and then realized it was still emitting the screech, so she tried to cover its mouth with her hands. This action earned her a nip from the Zubat. Instinctively, she withdrew her hands, but placed them back when the screech proved not to be stopping.  
“Come on! Come on! Be quiet!” said Mia forcefully. “You’ll wake up everyone in the Center.”  
Indeed, other Trainers were beginning to stir at the noise. Mia continued her futile quest to block its screeching. Zubat quieted down after a few moments.   
“Yeesh, what was that about?” wondered Mia aloud. She then noticed a figure at the Center door. The figure was of average height, above 5’5” but definitely under 6’. Mia couldn’t make out the physical features through the door, but the figure seemed to be attaching some things to the wall next to the door, and even on the door itself. Mia got up to get a better view of what was happening as she approached the door, she began to make out more features on the figure.  
It was clearly female. A girl in her late teens, maybe even pushing twenty. She had lilac-colored hair. Mia was not able to get any closer than about fifteen feet when the girl noticed her and took off running. She considered chasing after the girl, and figured it would probably be best to stick with the other two girls. Mia then noticed the time, and decided to tell the other two about it in the morning.  
**  
Milli woke the next morning feeling refreshed. Despite being in a strange new place, she was still excited at being in a brand-new place. Marie had already left the sofa and Milli didn’t see any sign of her. Mia was still sleeping on the floor next to where she had been. Milli saw no sign of Nurse Joy either. She decided to contact her parents through the Pokémon Center’s videophone and inform them of what happened at Wally’s house.  
“The number you have dialed cannot be reached. Please hang up and try again.”  
Weird, thought Milli. Maybe the power’s out? Or it doesn’t do long-distance calls?  
She didn’t let it bother her. The fact that she had somehow ended up in Jubilife made her excited. It wasn’t home, so that meant it was new and exciting. Still, that door was still standing in the lobby. Its presence didn’t seem to interest anyone else in the Center. Milli decided to go touch the door and see if it had the same see-through effect.  
As Milli was placing her hand to the door, she saw Nurse Joy and Marie walk out of the long back halls of the Center. Marie’s eyes were a little watery, but she had a smile on her face. That expression soon changed to panic as she looked at Milli. She rushed over to Milli.  
“What are you doing? You’ve already gone through the door once and I had to pull you through. Who knows what will happen if you touch it again?”  
“Relax, okay? I was just trying to see if I could see the other side like I could before. Anyway, I only came through when I placed my hand over yours. As you’re not on the other side of the door, I don’t think that will be a problem.”  
“It’s still not a good idea to tempt fate. Seeing as it’s already on the door, can you see through?” asked Marie.  
“No, doesn’t look like it. I tried calling my parents earlier, but the phone must not reach Hoenn.”  
“You’re all the way from Hoenn? This door must be some kind of gate that allows instant travel from one region to the other. Hey, Mia, where are you from, incidentally?”  
“Kanto,” replied Mia from over by the door. “Specifically, Pallet Town.”  
“She’s from farther away than I am,” said Milli. “I think you might be onto something with that ‘instant travel’ theory. But if that’s so, how’d she get here? I don’t see her door.”  
“You’re right. I don’t see it either. And it’s certainly not your door because she was as intrigued by it as I was. Also, yours is still here, though hers might just be invisible to us, like this one seems to be to everyone else here.”  
“Yeah, good point. This is fun and all, but I do want to get back to Hoenn. I’m registered in that region for my first year of training, so Badges I earn anywhere else won’t help me. Also, that girl Mia, she’s pretty young. What are we gonna do with her?”  
“There’s an airport in Oreburgh. I was just going to take her there and send her back wherever she came from, Kanto apparently, by plane. She’s got a weird Zubat that seems like a good enough bodyguard, judging by its screeching last night.”  
“Huh. I didn’t hear anything. I could take her with me if it’s a problem for you,” offered Milli.  
“No, no it’s fine. I know you’re going to go back to Hoenn through that door anyway, and I don’t want Mia to end up in another unfamiliar place. She’s probably already pretty freaked out about being so far away from home.”   
“That’s probably true,” said Milli. “What about that PokéGear stuff you were gonna get so we could stay in touch?”  
“Oh, right. I almost forgot to give them to you. I actually got them for free last night because--.”  
Marie paused.  
“Because what?” asked Milli. I wonder why she stopped in the middle of the sentence like that. Probably has something to do with her and Nurse Joy being in the back a few minutes ago.  
“Nothing. Not important. Anyway, here you go. I got four of them. One is set to call yours, one is set to call Mia’s, two are set to call me. You get the one with Mia’s programmed as its home number and vice versa. There are also two programmed to call mine as their home number, one for each of you. Hopefully, this’ll make it easier to stay in touch. We need to make a plan in case that doesn’t pan out. We’ll need Mia here too to discuss the plan. Where’d she go anyway?”  
“I think she’s outside. Yeah, there she is. See over by the door? She’s right next to it. Looks like she’s examining something on the wall. I only caught a glimpse of her by luck because she looked over to check that rectangle paper thing on the door.”  
“OK, I see her,” said Marie. “I’m going to go find out what she’s doing and get her back inside. Then, we can discuss our future plans.”  
Marie left Milli standing in the middle of the lobby. Milli went back to looking at the door. She placed her hand on it.  
No reaction.  
She spread her fingers and felt for any sort of handle. She pressed her hand hard against the door.  
Nothing happened.  
She looked toward the entrance. Marie was talking to Mia about something she was holding in her hand. As Milli turned her attention back to the door, Mia called her name. She went over to see what Mia had to say.  
**  
In the small hours of the morning, Nurse Joy gently shook Marie awake.  
“Marie, we need to talk,” said Nurse Joy.  
Marie worried at the tone of Nurse Joy’s voice. Nurse Joy helped her up and led her into the back of the Center. She was silent the whole way. As the hallway grew longer and longer, Marie’s worry intensified, the silence punctuated only by soft footfalls. Suddenly, a loud screech rang through the hallway. Nurse Joy stopped for a moment, assured Marie it was almost definitely the result of the yellow Zubat in the lobby, then continued on her path.   
Finally, they arrived at a small room near the back of the Center. There was a glass covering over a bed. On the bed lay Drifloon.  
“Marie, there’s something I need to tell you,” said Nurse Joy.  
Oh no, oh no, oh no, thought Marie. Why did this have to happen?  
“Judging by the look that just crossed your face, the news I have isn’t going to hit nearly as hard. Drifloon is not going to recuperate in a few days. He won’t recuperate in a few weeks or even a month. His condition is much worse than I thought at first glance. On top of his dehydration and malnourishment, he has a bad case of pneumonia. Also, his organ that allows him to float is severely damaged. He may never fly again. With all of its health problems, coupled with likely depression if the float organ doesn’t heal very well, Drifloon may not be able to do much of anything for a year or so. I’m sorry. I know this is a lot to take in.”  
“It’s˗˗ it’s OK. You’re right about it being better than I expected. I’m glad for that. I haven’t even known Drifloon that long, but I still feel incredibly sad at its condition. And I feel worried and afraid and a bunch of other things.”  
“You don’t need to worry anymore. Drifloon is going to be just fine. He’ll just need lots of rest and absolutely no battling or Contests or anything strenuous. He will need to stay here for a few weeks until he’s strong enough to move on his own, but after that, would you like me to send him to you?”  
“Yes. Please do. I should be in Veilstone in a few weeks’ time, so I’ll have access to a PC. I want to be the one who helps Drifloon overcome its impaired flight ability.”  
Thank goodness, thought Marie. Drifloon is going to be fine. I guess it might depend on your definition of fine, but it’s better than my initial estimate of its health. Or his health I should say.   
“Earth to Marie, you there?”  
“Huh? Oh sorry. Guess I kinda zoned out after you told me everything would be all right. I have a favor to ask. Will you have a Chansey stay with Drifloon while I run a couple of errands?”  
“Of course I can do that for you. I could even have Chansey run the errands for you. What are you planning on doing?”  
“I just need to get a few H-E PokéGear from the PokéMart. The other two girls I’m with don’t have PokéGear of their own, but one has a PokéNav and the other a Pokétch so they’re pretty much set for everything except a phone.”  
“You’re in luck, actually. People tend to leave things here all the time. If no one claims it within a 6-month period, the Center claims it as their own. We’ve got literally hundreds of those H-E PokéGear. Take as many as you want.”  
“Thank you so much. You have no idea how helpful this is.”  
“No problem. You’re going to stay in here all night with Drifloon, aren’t you? I can just tell you’re that type. Do you want me to leave?”  
“You don’t have to, but you should probably go back to whatever you were doing before you brought me back here.”  
“All right then. I’ll wake you up in the morning. Good night.”  
“Good night,” said Marie.   
She put her forehead against the glass over Drifloon.  
“Good night, Drifloon.”  
**  
Mia stood in the lobby with Marie and Milli looking at the poster she had brought in from outside. The poster art was minimal. It was divided diagonally into two sections, white and black, with white on top. “Join” was written in small, bold font on the line separating the two regions. “TNG” was written in large, white letters directly below the line and taking up most of the poster. In addition, the words “Our generation will create a new tomorrow for the world” were printed underneath “TNG”.

“There’s a bunch of these on the wall outside,” said Mia. “I saw someone putting something up outside last night and went to check out what they were earlier this morning. I wonder what this ‘TNG’ is.”  
“Probably just someone trying to start something for beginning Trainers. Champion Joey did the same thing a couple of years ago. I remember my sister wanted to join that particular one just for a chance to see the Champion. We couldn’t afford it though.”  
“Wait a second. Did you say Champion Joey?” asked Milli. “I don’t remember ever hearing about that. I thought he was only an Ace Trainer. When did this happen?”  
“Around ten years ago, I think. Even though it was only a year that he held the title, everyone still calls him Champion because he won with a Rattata.”  
“Really? A Rattata? I didn’t realize they could grow into such powerful Pokémon. I may have to catch one for myself now.”  
“Hey, you two,” interrupted Mia. “I also remember Joey becoming Champion, but I thought he retired and became a Veteran instead. And anyway, weren’t we trying to decide what this poster meant? It might not be what Marie thinks, after all. What do you actually think ‘TNG’ stands for?”  
At least I got their attention back on the poster, thought Mia. She recalled the endless hours her parents would discuss the strategy of the Trainers participating in the League. Each and every League. Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova. All of them would be a topic of discussion for the next several weeks whenever one happened.  
“That’s a good question. What does ‘TNG’ stand for? Maybe ‘The Next Generation’? That would make sense of the line below it,” said Marie.  
“But it doesn’t give any more information than the quote at the bottom. There’s no meeting place or even URL,” replied Milli.  
“Well, it doesn’t really matter. It’s just a poster,” said Marie. “We should be heading off soon anyway. I want to get to Oreburgh ASAP. Are you ready to go, Mia?”  
“Yes, I’m ready. Are we all going together?”  
“No, I’m going to try to get back to Hoenn a different way. I thought of a way to get through the door this morning. I’m going to need some help. Stay here in case things go wrong, Mia.”  
Mia watched as Milli took Marie over to the door. The two girls seemed to be discussing something. Milli placed her hand on the door. Nothing happened from Mia’s point-of-view. She appeared to ask Marie to do the same, with identical results. The two girls then placed their hands on the door at the same time. Again, nothing happened.   
I wonder what’s going on over there, thought Mia. Why didn’t Milli want me over there? Maybe she thought it would be dangerous. Or that I might try to follow her.  
Milli seemed to be getting excited. She then placed her hand on top of where Marie’s was on the door. As soon as this happened, Mia saw a white outline forming around the hands. The entire door soon glowed white. Milli lightly pushed Marie back and walked through the glowing object. A few seconds later, the door was slate-gray again. Then, it, too, started to disappear, fading slowly from the Pokémon Center lobby.  
Marie was walking back towards Mia.  
“Apparently, the last time she was able to walk through the door was when our hands were overlapping, so she decided to try it from this side too. She wasn’t sure it would work with us being on the same side of the door, but it ended up fine. At least, I hope it did. We’ll know soon enough,” said Marie.  
I hope she’s OK. She seemed nice enough. She shook her head to dismiss the clouds that were forming inside. I can’t worry about her. I’ve got to all Mom and Dad and let them know that I’m OK. Uncle Brock probably already told them about the door.  
“Mia? You ready? Come on,” said Marie.  
“On my way,” said Mia.  
“All right. We just have to stop by Jubilife TV and then we’ll be off to Oreburgh.”  
“Why are we going to Oreburgh?” asked Mia.  
“Because they have an airport. They’ll be able to get you back to Kanto.”  
“OK. But why are we stopping by Jubilife TV?”  
“There’s a few things I have to get. My mom hosts a fairly good public-access show about conspiracy theories and I left some things in her office the other day. Please keep quiet about my mom being a TV show host.”  
“Don’t worry, I will,” said Mia. A TV show host? That must mean she has an exciting life. I wonder what kind of show it is.  
**


	6. Present

Chapter 6: Present  
Marie approached the tall building with Mia in tow. She looked up at the gigantic antenna stationed on top of the building. Walking through the front door, Marie made a beeline for the elevator, hoping to make it past the receptionist desk without being stopped. As she passed by the desk, an arm reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder.  
“Hello, Marie,” said the green-haired woman sitting at the receptionist desk who had accosted her. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it? You’ve grown up a lot since I last saw you.”  
“Hi, Ms. Maru. Yeah, it’s been a couple years since I’ve seen you. I came here a few weeks ago, but you were on vacation at the time. I’m just coming through to pick up what I left here.”  
“Uh-huh. And who’s this that you’ve got with you?”  
Marie glanced back at Mia, but the younger girl seemed to be a little nervous.  
“This is Mia. She’s a little lost. She got here all the way from Pallet Town somehow,” said Marie, instinctively leaving the mysterious doors out of her explanation. “I’m taking her to Oreburgh so that she can catch a flight to the Kanto region.”  
“Oh, that’s such a sweet thing to do. Anyway, your mother called earlier and figured you’d be by soon, so she had me gather your things. Here you are, dear.”  
Ms. Maru handed Marie a neatly wrapped package of clothes and other assorted items. As she handed Marie the items, a deliveryman walked up to the receptionist desk and asked to speak to Ms. Maru.  
“Package for a Ms. C. Maru. Is there a Ms. C. Maru here?” asked the deliveryman.  
“That would be me,” replied Ms. Maru.  
“If you could just sign this for me, ma’am, then I’ll be on my way.”  
“No problem.”  
“Thank you. Here you are.” The deliveryman handed Ms. Maru a small box. “Goodbye. Have a nice day.”  
“You too,” called Ms. Maru as she inspected the package he sent her. “Well, what do you know?” she said with a smile. “It’s for you, Marie.”  
Me? thought Marie. Why would it have been delivered to Ms. Maru then?  
“Is it really for me?” inquired Marie.  
“Yep. All yours. Here you go, dear.”  
Marie took the package from Ms. Maru. She looked it over and noticed some familiar curlicue writing.  
To : Marie  
From: Aunt Whitney  
Marie opened the box. A PokéBall sat inside upon a small cushion. An envelope sat beneath the PokéBall. Marie took them both out of the box. She tore open the envelope and took out a letter.  
Dear Marie,  
Happy birthday to the best niece in this crazy world. Have a good time on your first journey. She should be able to help you out of any tough spots.  
Love,  
Aunt Whitney  
“This is from Aunt Whitney? But I thought-.” Oh, that’s right. Mom and Dad bought me the PokéGear. I just assumed Aunt Whitney had bought it when she called so soon after I got it. Mom must have set that up with her. I wonder what her actual present is, then. It seems to be a Pokémon.  
“Go, PokéBall,” said Marie, tossing the ball lightly.  
The ball split open and spewed forth a white light. A familiar Pokémon now stood before her. Marie smiled. She should have known.  
“Miltank,” said the Pokémon.  
“She’s always loved these pink cows,” said Marie. “Let’s see what the Pokédex has to say about it.” Marie pulled out her Pokédex and scanned Miltank.  
“Miltank, the Milk Cow Pokémon,” said the Pokédex. “Miltank live in herds. Their milk has powerful healing properties.”  
“All right. Return, Miltank.” The pink Pokémon disappeared back into the PokéBall in a flash of red light. “We’ve got to be on our way, Ms. Maru. See you later.”  
“OK. Bye, have fun on your journey.”  
Marie almost walked out of the building before she remembered that Mia was supposed to be with her. She looked around. The young girl was standing at a counter on the other side of the lobby. She was clutching something in her hand. Marie walked over to her.  
“Whatcha got there, Mia?” asked Marie. She couldn’t quite tell what Mia was holding.  
“It’s a Master Ball. I won the ID lottery. Apparently all the numbers on my Pokédex ID matched all the numbers drawn today and the grand prize was a Master Ball.”  
Marie found herself unable to believe this turn of events. How could this little girl possibly be so lucky? Not only does she have an impossible yellow Zubat, she wins the notorious Jubilife TV lottery on her second day.  
“Just kidding. None of my numbers matched. It’s only a free plush toy they gave me,” said Mia, handing the object over to Marie.  
Indeed it was a plush toy. Marie felt the soft fabric press against her hand as myriad beads rolled around inside the patterned cloth. She relaxed as she realized it was only a harmless prank. She decided it was best that they be on their way.  
“Come on, Mia,” said Marie. “If we want to reach Oreburgh quickly, we need to get going.”  
“I’m coming, I’m coming. When do you think will get there?”  
“If all goes well, a couple of days at most.”  
***  
Milli stepped from the doorway onto warm sand. The scent of the ocean filled her nose as the warm sun beat down on her skin. Milli looked around, confused.  
Where am I? she thought. Maybe that guy knows.  
A dark-skinned man with ruffled black hair was lying on a towel beneath an umbrella. His hands were beneath his head as he stared at the sky.  
“Hey, you,” yelled Milli. “My name’s Milli. Can you tell me where I am?”  
“Why, don’t you know? You’re on the beach,” said the man. He had a slight accent that Milli couldn’t place.  
Oh, brother. “Very funny, mister. I was thinking more along the lines of what town this is.”  
“Ah. In that case, you happen to be in Mossdeep City, in the Hoenn region. The name’s Kahn, by the way. Do you need any more help?”  
“No, I’ll be fine,” said Milli. Mossdeep, huh? At least I’m back in the right region. I should probably try calling Marie with this PokéGear to see if it works.  
Milli pressed the house button on the PokéGear. The phone rang three times and was then picked up.  
“Hello? You’ve reached the-.” A bit of static cut through the line. “-ay I help you?”  
“Mom?! Is that you?”  
“Milli! Hello, dear. How are you? How’s your journey been so far? Was Wally any help?” Her mother continued listing questions.  
“Slow down, Mom! I can’t answer any of your questions if I can’t remember what they were. I’m fine. My journey’s been fine, if a little strange, considering I have somehow ended up in Mossdeep City. Wally— Wally was helpful, yes,” said Milli, remembering what had happened in that house, that Wally had disappeared without a trace.  
“Dear? Are you all right? You seemed to stop for a minute there.”  
“Everything’s OK,” said Milli, unsure who she was trying to convince. “I caught a Surskit yesterday and named it ‘Ame’. I also helped a little girl find her way home. She was the one who actually named the Surskit.”  
“I’m happy that your journey is going well .I’m also glad your father and I raised you to be so kind. A Surskit, eh? With two Pokémon, you should be able to take on the Mossdeep Gym. They specialize in Double Battles.”  
“I guess I should check it out then. All right, Mom. I’ll call you back later. Bye.”  
“Goodbye, dear. Be safe.” The phone clicked dead.  
Two Pokémon? thought Milli. Of course! I completely forgot about Pichu. That’s weird. She was on my shoulder the last I noticed it. She took Pichu’s PokéBall out of her bag. Maybe she went back inside during the incident with Wally.  
“Go, Pichu,” called Milli.  
White light emerged from the ball. Pichu stood before her with its paws raised in front of its face.  
“Pichu? Pichu, it’s OK. We’re safe now.”  
“Chu?” Pichu looked around nervously.  
“See? We aren’t at Wally’s house anymore. You missed a bunch of stuff hiding in you PokéBall. I suppose it’s to be expected when you’re scared out of your wits.”  
“Pi-pichu!” said Pichu indignantly.  
“Oh, so you weren’t scared? Then how come you haven’t been outside your PokéBall for the past day?”  
“Chuuu,” sighed Pichu.  
“Come on, we’ve got a Gym to challenge.” Pichu leapt up on her shoulder and together they set off to find the Gym.  
***  
Mia walked behind Marie. She was happy at the trick she had managed to play on the older girl. Marie had seemed a little too freaked out by it though. Mia wondered why that was.  
“You’re lagging behind again, Mia,” said Marie from somewhere up ahead.  
“My legs are shorter than yours. It’s not fair.”  
The two girls walked along the path. Starly and Staravia flew overhead. Wild Pokémon could be seen off in the distance. Some even wandered close by, a few swarms of Kricketot had already passed the girls as they walked to Oreburgh.  
Mia noted that Marie seemed to be a quiet type of person who was fine with only the sound of nature as they walked. All the better, as Mia had thoughts troubling her.  
Uncle Brock must have told everyone what’s happened by now. I probably have Mommy and Daddy worried sick because I disappeared. I don’t have any way to call them at present, though. If only I could, I might be able to stop them from worrying too much. With Marie’s help, I should be home soon enough. Maybe I shouldn’t go home right away. I’m almost definitely in a lot of trouble. No, no. I should just tell them the whole story. They’ll realize I didn’t really have a choice.  
“How much longer do we have, Marie?”  
“At least a day, Mia. By the looks of it, we still have a while before the sun starts to set. If we hurry, we should be able to make it to the halfway mark by nightfall.”  
“We’ll only be halfway there?”  
“We’re going to have to camp out at some point. I don’t know if you’ve ever done that, but it can be kind of fun. I’ve been on a couple trips with my family.”  
“Oh, what’s it like?”  
**  
The sun was beginning to set, and Marie had grown weary of answering Mia’s questions. She knew they would have to set up camp soon. The day had passed without much incident. The two girls were nearing a grove of trees.  
“We’ll set up camp up there. OK, Mia?”  
“OK.”  
The young girl had constantly wandered off the path as they traveled. Every so often, Marie would look back with Mia nowhere in sight, and then she would have to retrieve her.  
I wonder if Kiri had this much trouble with me? thought Marie. She stopped in her tracks and stared ahead as thoughts of times long gone by clouded her mid.  
“Marie? You there?” Mia snapped her out of her thoughts. “Something wrong?”  
“It’s nothing. Let’s keep going.”  
“Have you caught any Pokémon yet, Marie?”  
“I caught a Drifloon, but that doesn’t really count. I have two otherwise, my starter and a birthday present from my aunt. You weren’t paying attention when I got the second one and I should have introduced you to the other. I’ve just been focusing on getting to Oreburgh. Do you wanna see them?”  
“Yeah! I love playing with the Pokémon at Professor Oak’s Lab.”  
“Well then,” said Marie, releasing her Pokémon. “I’d like you to meet Pichu and Miltank. Pichu, Miltank, this is Mia. She’ll only be with us for a little bit, and she wanted to meet you before she had to leave.”  
Pichu and Miltank wandered over to Mia. The young girl happily gave them pats on the head. The two Pokémon seemed to enjoy Mia’s company.  
“All right. We have to get a move on. Return, you two.” The two Pokémon disappeared in twin flashes of red light.  
They approached the entrance to the grove of trees and were accosted by a wandering Pokémon that had decided they were invading its territory.  
“Ooh, a Kricketot!” exclaimed Mia. “Catch it, Marie! Pretty please!”  
“Al right, all right. I’ll do something to get it to leave us alone at least,” replied Marie.  
Do I really need to catch it? I could just scare it off. Then again, that might be a mistake. Maybe I should check the Pokédex.  
“Kricketot, the Cricket Pokémon. These Pokémon communicate using their antennae. The antennae sound like xylophones. Kricketot evolves into Kricketune.”  
And a Kricketune is? Marie pressed a button on the Pokédex.  
“Kricketune, the Cricket Pokémon. Kricketune uses its arms to create a resonant melody. Each Kricketune produces its own unique song.”  
Well, it might be fun to have one.  
“Go, Pichu!”  
Pichu appeared in a haze of white light .  
“Chu!”  
The tiny yellow mouse Pokémon was about the same size as the offended Kricketot.  
“Kricketot!” cried the red bug. It stood there in the evening light.  
“I guess we have the first move then. Pichu, use Thundershock!”  
A yellow bolt of electricity shot from Pichu and hit Kricketot squarely. The Cricket Pokémon stood there.  
“Again, Pichu!”  
Another bolt of electricity hit the Kricketot as it stood still.  
Why’s it just standing there?  
Bits of white static began crawling across the red bug Pokémon. The small bolts were all being drawn to the antennae of the Kricketot. The insectoid Pokémon unleashed large twin bolts of white electricity.  
“Dodge it, Pichu!”  
It was too late. Kricketot cried its name as it unleashed the white lightning. Both bolts hit Pichu at full force. It fell to the ground, unable to battle any longer. Kricketot looked smugly at its defeated opponent.  
“Return, Pichu. What was that?” Marie took out her Pokédex.  
“Kricketot begin with the moves Growl and Bide. Growl: this attack lowers the power of its opponents. Bide: The Pokémon will stand in a spot and unleash an attack with twice the power after a short while,” stated the Pokédex.  
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”  
“They can learn Struggle Bug and Bug Bite with a little battling experience. It is with Bide that it usually defeats novice Trainers.”  
“So they can give it sarcasm, but not a sense of when information would be relevant. Great. Miltank is up next, then. Come on out!”  
“Mil taaank!” said the Pokémon as it appeared on the field.  
Kricketot’s smug look turned to one of terror. It began to frantically emitting sounds, likely Growl attacks. Miltank seemed unaffected.  
“Oh brother. It’s too weak compared to Miltank for me to actually try battling it. Better go with a weak attack. Miltank, use Rollout. Gently.”  
Miltank curled itself into a ball and began rolling toward Kricketot. The red bug ran as fast as it could. It seemed to realize it wasn’t fast enough and stood still to prepare another Bide. Miltank gently rolled into it and Kricketot fell over. Before it got up, Marie threw a PokéBall at it. Kricketot was encased in a red light and sucked into the ball. The PokéBall fell to the ground where it wobbled a few times and then gave off its distinctive tone.  
“Cool. I caught a Kricketot! Return, Miltank,” said Marie as she walked over to retrieve the PokéBall. “Ok Mia, let’s get a fire going.”  
***  
“What do you mean they’re not present?”  
“I’m sorry, ma’am. The Gym Leaders went off to the space station this morning and haven’t been back since. As such, I state again they are not present.  
“Just let me in the Gym already.”  
The man who was blocking Milli’s way placed his arm across the door. He seemed to be an older gentleman. His hair was silver gray, the same as his neatly trimmed mustache. He was wearing a sharp black suit and had glasses that accentuated his stern eyes.  
“Again, I’m sorry, ma’am. I’ve been given orders not to let anyone into the Gym until they return.”  
If this guy’s their only guard then maybe it’s a test to see if we can figure out our way into the Gym.  
“Go, Rhydon!” shouted the guard, throwing a PokéBall into the air.  
The Pokémon roared as it was released. A large gray beast now stood in front of the door to the Gym. Milli took out her Pokédex and scanned the Pokémon.  
“Rhydon, the Horn Drill Pokémon. When Rhyhorn stands on its hind legs, its intelligence increases and it evolves into Rhydon. Rhydon’s Horn Drill attack is extremely powerful and can deliver knock-out blows,” said the Pokédex.  
“I saw that look. Don’t even think about it. It would be quite rude to try to break into the Gym. Did you really think I wouldn’t be prepared for impatient Trainers, young lady? I’ve faced many of them over the past few years I’ve worked here. Please come back another time.”  
“Come on, Pichu. We’ll have to find another Gym to challenge first,” said Milli. “If the Leaders don’t even bother showing up, why would my mom tell me to come here?”  
“Wait, wait, wait!” two voices cried in unison.  
Milli saw two people running down the path toward the Gym. There was a girl and a boy. Both had black hair and they were about equal in height. They stopped in front of the Gym.  
“If it’s a battle you want, it’s a battle you’ll get!” said the boy.  
“Fair warning. We only do Double Battle in this Gym. Are you prepared?” asked the girl.  
“Yes. I have my two Pokémon all ready to go,” said Milli.  
“Then let’s get started. Please open the door, Walter,” said the boy.  
“Oh, and what if you should be impostors? There was that incident with the Ditto and Chatot,” said the guard, staring down at him through his shining glasses. “Prove to me that you are the twin Gym Leaders by reciting the oath you gave me!” demanded Walter.  
“Those who would seek to make their destiny by soaring through the sky should not be afraid to cast aside the safety of the Earth!” answered the twins in unison.  
“Very good. Enter the Gym and have your battle.”  
“You are relieved of guard duty. We’ll be here for the rest of the day,” said the girl.  
“Thank you, Miss Liza.”  
“Now that that’s over, we haven’t been properly introduced. My name is Liza. I’m one-half of the Mossdeep City’s Gym Leader.”  
“And I’m the other half, Tate, twin brother of Liza.”  
“Younger twin brother,” stated Liza.  
“Stop rubbing it in! That aside, what’s your name, challenger?”  
“I’m Milli. I came here to challenge this Gym for my very first Badge.”  
“First one, huh? Then this will likely be your first Double battle as well. You’re pretty confident for a rookie,” said Liza.  
The twins led Milli to an indoor arena. A dirt floor was marked off with white lines. Liza motioned to Milli to stand in the semi-circle at one end of the field. The twins took their position on the other side.  
“All right. Let’s show this rookie how it’s done. Come forth and spin through the heavens! Glorious Blaze Solrock!”  
“Tate, you’re supposed to let the challenger choose first. It’s too late to change now though, so I’m up next. Rise from the inky depths of night! Serene Soul Lunatone!”  
“Nice lines,” said Milli. “Where’d you ever get that idea?”  
“Sarcasm. Real original. Come on, rookie, you’re up. Choose your Pokémon,” said Tate.  
“Okay, here goes. Go, Pichu! Help me out, Ame!”  
Pichu leapt onto the field where Ame appeared next to her.  
“A Surskit and a Pichu, huh? This will be interesting. Your move, Milli,” said Liza.  
***  
Night was falling as the girls continued along their path. Mia saw buildings up ahead.  
“Hey, Marie. Is that Oreburgh up there?”  
“According to the map, it should be. We should be able to make it to the Pokémon Center not long after dark. We’ll get to sleep inside tonight.”  
“Hooray,” said Mia, her mind still fixated on what Marie had told her the night before.  
The night before:  
The girls were sitting around a small fire they had built. It was just large enough to be warm without being exceedingly hot.  
“Hey, Marie. You mentioned a sister a while back. What’s it like having a sister? I’ve always wanted one,” said Mia.  
Marie momentarily froze at the word ‘sister’. It was a very brief pause, but it was long enough for Mia to notice.  
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, Marie.”  
“No, it’s fine. You were bound to know sooner or later. It’s just that it feels like it was only yesterday. It’s not a very fun story. Are you sure you want to hear it?”  
“Uh-huh. I want to know what having a sister is like.”  
“OK then. It all started when I was six, so my memory is a little fuzzy. I was playing in my room one day when the doorbell rang. When my mother opened the door, two people were standing there. A man in a black suit, and a blonde girl. The man was wearing sunglasses and seemed to have an air of seriousness about him. The girl stood next to him, head down, hands clasped in front of her. The man was holding a black briefcase and he asked my mother if she had time to talk to him. She invited him in, as it was raining and the girl’s hair was being blown about in the wind. All three wandered into the kitchen where they would discuss things. I couldn’t hear some of the things they were saying, but essentially the girl, who the man said was about 15 years old, had been caught up in something, and the man wished to know if we could take her in. He’d already taken care of the others who had been caught up in the same incident. She just happened to be the last one. He said he was having trouble finding a family who would, could, accept her though. My mother told him to stop talking and said right then that we’d adopt the girl. The girl smiled and threw herself around my mother. She introduced herself as Kiri, and that’s how she became part of our family for the next three years. She played with me, she taught me things, she meant the world to me. On the day after she turned 18 though (well, after we considered her 18, we chose the day she came to us to be her birthday), she disappeared from the house. She left almost nothing behind, except a note which read ‘Thank you for everything’. My parents immediately set out to declare her a missing person. A few weeks later, however, the police contacted us and said Kiri had taken herself off the list. It was sad and empty in our house for the next few months. All that happened just a little over three years ago.”  
Mia tried to absorb all of the information Marie had just given her. A sister who’d appeared out of the blue one day, and then disappeared on another just as quickly.  
“It still feels empty in our house.”  
“Marie, are you OK?” asked Mia.  
“Let’s just get some sleep, Mia. I’ll see you in the morning.”  
Now:  
Three years without knowing if anything has happened to her sister, thought Mia. Curiosity got the better of me yesterday. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked about it. She’s been even quieter today.  
“We’re here,” said Marie. “This is where we part ways, Mia. Come on, let’s get you a flight home.”  
The two girls walked into the airport.  
“Hello. We need one ticket for a flight to Pallet Town.”  
“Pallet Town has no airport. The closest city to Pallet Town that has one is Cerulean. All flights for Cerulean have left for the day as well. I can get you a ticket for the day after tomorrow at the earliest,” the ticket clerk informed Marie.  
“One minute, please.” Marie pulled Mia aside.  
“Mia, can you get your parents to get you in Cerulean?”  
“I don’t know. I tried calling home but it was a disconnected number.”  
“What am I going to do with you then?”  
“I can still go to Cerulean though. Aunt Misty is the Gym Leader there. I’ll be able to stay there while I figure out a way home.”  
A look of puzzlement crossed Marie’s face. The older girl seemed to be trying to decipher what Mia had said.  
“You’re stuck here for tonight and tomorrow at least,” said Marie. “We’ll take the next ticket you have. Here’s the money,” said Marie, handing the clerk a pile of bills.  
“I’m sorry, this isn’t enough. You’ll need more if you want to buy a ticket. You could probably get some money by beating the Gym here. Or there’s the Contest tomorrow, if that’s more to your liking. They both award small cash prizes in addition to the Badge or Ribbon.”  
I really want to see a live Contest. The televised ones probably miss out on something, thought Mia.  
“Which one do you think I should do, Mia? Contest or Gym?” asked Marie.  
“You shouldn’t leave it up to me. It’s your journey that I’m interrupting. Personally, however, I’ve always wanted to see a Contest in person. I just think the televised ones are missing something.”  
“I’ve seen a few in person, and yeah, the televised ones are missing something. There’s just a certain atmosphere about Contests that can’t be broadcast through television.”  
“Yes! So then, the Pokémon Center for tonight and the Contest Hall in the morning. Right, Marie?”  
“Yep. And then, if I win, we should be able to afford you a ticket to Cerulean City. That’s a plan, in any case. We’ll have to come up with something else if it doesn’t pan out.”  
Have you ever been in a Contest? Do you know anyone who has? Why do you think the Hoenn region was the first to start Pokémon Contests? Are Sinnoh Contests different from Hoenn? Mia had a lot of questions to ask Marie. She decided it would be better to ask them tomorrow, when the Contest would actually start. She worried she might accidentally ask the wrong question again.  
***


	7. Character Introduction Chapter: M

Character Intro Chapter 1: M

Running through the forest, M searched high and low for any sign of the door. His calculations suggested it could not be far, but he saw no trace of any portal. He increased his speed in an attempt to throw off the pursuing Weavile and Honchkrow, to no avail. The Pokémon tailing him were just too fast. He had no choice.

"Mismagius! Gliscor! I need your help!"

Out popped two Pokémon, a deep purple ghost, and a lavender bat. They floated along behind M as he ran. He spotted something unnatural to his right. He kept running forward.

"Gliscor, Earthquake! Mismagius, Hidden Power!"

"Scor!"

"Mag."

Gliscor slammed its tail into the ground with a huge amount of strength. It created a shockwave that caught Weavile off guard, tripping it and knocking it to the ground. As Mismagius chanted, five small grey orbs appeared around. All at once, the orbs shot into the air above Honchkrow. The Weavile turned up its eyes at the attack.

"Weav! Ile!" it said, firing off a few pieces of ice at the orbs.

The ice shattered upon impact with the grey spheres. The spheres were now directly above Honchkrow. One slammed into its back, another its head, and another its tail. One orb also slammed into each wing. Honchkrow plummeted to the ground from the power of the orbs. It was pinned underneath them.

"Great job, Gliscor! Return!" The bat disappeared in a flash of red light.

M stopped running to look back. The Weavile had managed to get back up and had run over to its Honchkrow friend. It was diligently working on removing the gray spheres from Honchkrow. It had already removed the two from its wings.

"Mismagius, use Screech!"

The purple Pokémon obeyed, letting out an ear-splitting sound of high frequency and volume. M winced and covered his ears. He looked over at Weavile. The attack had it covering its ears in pain. Honchkrow was still pinned underneath the Hidden Power. M motioned to Mismagius to follow him and ran back past the Weavile. He ran for a few minutes and then called Mismagius back into its Poké Ball. He began slowly walking through the forest, searching again for the unnatural sight, scanning for his pursuers who were now ahead of him. At last, he saw the door.

A huge gray door, perhaps about fifteen feet in height, stood in front of M. The entire thing was covered in glowing blue runes.

"Ah, I think I've finally found it. Hmm, these symbols seem to be warning me of something," said M. A blue light flashed. The runes on the door began to change shape. M soon became able to read the runes.

They read:

Three yet one and two yet one. They shall have the power to bend all to their will. Calamity may be prevented with their knowledge and power combined. On the choices of M rest all.

The door's runes seemed directed specifically at him. He knew what he was going to do. He knew what he had to do. He took a deep breath and leapt through the door.


	8. Firsts

“Due to League rules concerning new Trainers, we are obligated to have Pokémon with equivalent strength for every number of Badges a Trainer has. For example, if this had been your second-to-last stop, we would use our original Solrock and Lunatone. These two were caught only about a week ago. Also, this is the official who will be refereeing today.”  
“Nice to meet you,” said Milli to the official. “Now about those Pokémon you sent out…give me a second, I need to check the Pokédex.” Milli pulled the machine from a pocket.  
“Solrock & Lunatone. These Pokémon are both known as the Meteorite Pokémon. These two Pokémon are quite rare, and many scientists believe they in fact originate from outer space. Some even theorize that they are a single species. This is due to Eggs appearing when these two are placed in captivity without a Ditto to provide genetic material. There have been many arguments over which is the male or female of said theorized species.”  
“I see. Interesting.”  
“The battle between Milli of Mauville and the Leaders Tate & Liza will now begin,” declared the official.  
“Now, let’s get this thing started! Ame, use Bubble on Solrock! Pichu, Thundershock on Lunatone!”  
“Pi-chuuu!” cried the yellow mouse. Electricity sparked around Pichu’s cheeks, building until it unleashed a jagged yellow bolt of lightning toward Lunatone.  
“Surskit,” said Ame. Bubbles formed at the tip of her antenna and shot toward Solrock.  
“Lunatone, dodge and use Light Screen!”  
Lunatone rose into the air. The strike of lighting missed it by inches. A translucent yellow square barrier appeared in front of Lunatone.  
“Solrock, use Confusion to grab Light Screen and defend yourself!”  
Solrock’s eyes glowed with a blue tinge. The same happened to the Light Screen Lunatone had put up. The screen was dragged in front of Solrock. The Bubble attack impacted the shield. Bubbles popped and their remains shimmered down through the air. The barrier remained, along with Solrock sitting in the air behind it.  
“That didn’t work. Let’s try this instead. Pichu, use Thundershock on Solrock! Ame, Signal Beam on Lunatone!”  
The Pokémon were quieter this time. Another jagged yellow bolt was emitted by Pichu, this time in the direction of Solrock. A green beam of light was shot forth from Ame’s antenna at Lunatone.  
“Lunatone, Reflect!” shouted Liza.  
“Solrock, grab that one too with another Confusion!”  
A translucent magenta barrier appeared in front of Lunatone. Solrock stole the new barrier as well, placing this one behind itself. Pichu’s Thundershock impacted the Light Screen. The barrier cracked slightly, though still did not dissipate. Ame’s Signal Beam struck Lunatone with full force.  
“You okay, Lunatone?”  
“Tone,” said Lunatone. It seemed to barely have been affected.  
“Now that Solrock has the barriers it can’t create on its own, I can bring out its full potential. Use Confusion to change the color of the screens and then spin them around yourself!”  
“Lunatone, hit Pichu with Rock Throw!”  
Solrock’s blue-tinged eyes glowed even brighter. The barriers became were drained of their color and began to spin around it at dizzying speed. Lunatone hurled a massive rock at Pichu.  
“Ame, use Aqua Jet on Solrock! Pichu, use Iron Tail to deflect Rock Throw!”  
Jets of water blasted out of Ame’s legs. The Pond Skater Pokémon rocketed toward Solrock. Gaining speed upon the approach, Ame made a huge impact into the Reflect barrier, cracking it slightly. The little blue insect was thrown clear of Solrock by the impact. As this was happening, Pichu’s tail was glowing white. Hammering the rock with the steeled tail, Pichu stood tall amid the rubble she had created by destroying it.  
“I see. Even though Lunatone uses the barriers, Solrock is the defensive one. That trick it uses where it changes the color of the barriers must be pretty useful for psyching out opponents.”  
“Thanks for the compliments. Doesn’t mean we’ll go easy on you,” said Tate.  
“Yeah, yeah,” answered Milli. She was beginning to worry. As long as Solrock has those barriers up, I won’t be able to get a hit in. There must be some way around Solrock’s screens. Think, think. Milli tapped her index and middle fingers of her right hand against her head, her little finger occasionally flicking across her eye. Solrock seems to be able to keep track of its barriers. If it couldn’t, Aqua Jet probably would have gotten through. That’s it! If I can just distract Solrock, even for a second, I’ll have the advantage. But first, I need to stop Lunatone, or the barriers will just get put back up. Time to put the plan into action.  
***  
Marie yawned as she woke up. It always felt refreshing, sleeping in Pokémon Centers. Camping out was fun and all, but Marie preferred to sleep indoors. She looked over at Mia. The younger girl was still out cold. Marie decided to register for the Contest and come back for Mia later. Asking Nurse Joy to keep an eye on Mia, Marie walked out the door and headed for the Contest Hall.  
She came across a highly decorated building. Streamers were hanging down in front of the door which was surrounded by large statues of Stoutland. Entering the building produced a lot of noise from the chimes attached to it. The inside of the Hall was brightly colored. To the left of Marie stood shelves of Contest memorabilia. Pokémon dolls, action figures, and the like. To the right was a bank of PCs. There was a desk in the center, ostensibly for registration. A man was sitting at the desk. He had short blue hair and green eyes. He looked quite bored, chin on his palm, tapping his fingers on the counter. He was browsing the computer on the desk in front of him. He glanced up at Marie.  
“You’re early, young lady,” said the man. “Can I help you?”  
“Yes, I’d like to register for the Contest.”  
“May I see your Contest Pass?”  
“I don’t have one. I assume I’ll need one to compete. Where can I get one?” asked Marie.  
“Not to worry. I can issue one to you. I’ll just need to see your Pokédex for identification.”  
Marie handed the man her Pokédex. He took it from her and plugged it into his computer. Marie waited as he typed information into the computer.  
“Since you don’t have a Contest pass, I’ll take a guess and say this is you first Contest, and that you have no ribbons yet?” asked the man.  
“Yes, that’s correct. Will that affect anything?”  
“Yes, but nothing important. It just means you’ll be in the earliest round of the Contest. Because of concerns about balance, Contests have now been divided into six separate rounds, three groups of two. The first round is for newcomers, the ones with no ribbons and who have participated in fewer than 5 Contests. The second is for those with 1 or 2 ribbons, and 0 ribbons with more than 5 Contests under their belt. The third is for those who have 3+ ribbons, and 2- ribbons with more than 25 Contests under their belt. Contest participation is cumulative per region, so if you travel to Hoenn or Kanto, etc., you’ll have to start over in the newcomer category. This also ensures the largest crowd for what is usually the most exciting Contest, since Coordinators with more ribbons are usually more fun to watch. It also prevents them from overshadowing the rookies.”  
“Ho ho!”  
A large, burly man burst into the Contest Hall. He barely fit through the door frame.  
“Am I too late to register for the Contest?” bellowed the large man.  
“No, sir. In fact, you are quite early. Just give me your Contest Pass and I’ll get you set up.”  
“Here you are,” said the man, still quite loudly. He handed the man a laminated object.  
The clerk took the Pass and scanned it into the computer. He handed it back to the muscular man.  
“You’re all registered, Alphonse. Your portion of the Contest begins at 10:00 a.m.”  
“Thank you, my good man. I shall be on my way now.” The large man began to stroll out of the Hall.  
“And here’s your Pass, Marie. You’ll also be competing at 10:00. And in case either of you didn’t know, you’ll have five minutes of set-up time, and five minutes to perform. The judges will then pick the top coordinators from the performance round to compete in a tournament-style battle. The maximum we use here is sixteen Coordinators, so the most battles you’ll have to go through during the second round is four.  
“Thank you,” said Marie. “See ya later.” Marie began walking out the Hall. She was stopped by the large man who was standing in front of the door.  
“So, you’ll be competing against me, hmmm?” asked the man. His eyes were in shadow as he stared down at Marie.  
“Y-yes,” stammered Marie.  
“Ho ho! Wonderful! May I ask what Pokémon you’ll be using?”  
“I haven’t decided. Either my Kricketot or Pichu. Can I ask the same favor of you?”  
“But of course I’ll be using my dear Wurmple!”  
“OK. Cool. Also, do you go by Alphonse? Or do you prefer Al?”  
“Only if I can call you Betty.”  
“What?”  
“Oh, it’s nothing. Al is fine. I suppose I’ll see you at the Contest. Good luck, Marie.”  
“Good luck, Al.”  
**  
Mia made her way to the Contest Hall. The overly ornamental building stood out among the more drab buildings of Oreburgh People were scattered throughout the stands. It was a small crowd, around fifty or sixty people had shown up for the morning Contest. She didn’t see Marie anywhere. A woman stepped onto the stage holding a megaphone.  
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the woman spoke into the megaphone. “Welcome to the Oreburgh City Contest, Novice Round. I’m your host, Lillian. Let’s meet our judges. First off, it’s the chairman of the Sinnoh Contest Committee, Mr. Contesta. Next up is President of the Pokémon fan club, Mr. Sukizo. And finally, our very own Nurse Joy. Let’s give them all a hand.”  
The small crowd cheered.  
“For this round, we have eight contestants. Only two will make it to the final round. Who will they be? All right, Contestant Number 1, come on out! I present Marie of Sandgem Town.”  
Mia watched as Marie stepped onto the stage. Marie was smiling at the crowd.  
“Go, Marie!” cheered Mia. “You can do this!” I wonder if she can even hear me from up here.  
“Pichu, come on out!”  
The yellow mouse appeared on the stage.  
“Pichu, use Charm!”  
“Chu!” said Pichu. Small pink hearts appeared in the air as Pichu smiled and wagged her tail at the judges.  
“Awwww,” said the judges simultaneously.  
“Now, Pichu, use ThunderShock on the Charm!”  
“Pi-Pichu!” Pichu unleashed a jagged yellow bolt of electricity. The hearts burst into shimmering glitter in the air.  
“Let’s see what our judges have to say.”  
“Remarkable,” said Mr. Sukizo.  
“An endearing performance that leaves you with an energized feeling,” stated Mr. Contesta.  
“Combining cuteness and power in a small package, Pichu is certainly a force to be reckoned with,” said Nurse Joy.  
“Marie, please leave the stage. Just a minute folks, we have to let our next Contestant set up.”  
Some assistants scurried about the stage. They placed bowls filled with something colorful on the stage. There were many different colors in the bowls. The stage hands placed a strange structure in the middle of the stage. It seemed to be part of a fence. Two wooden poles were connected by smaller metal ones.  
“That was exciting, huh, Pichu?”  
“Chu!” it cried happily.  
“That was a great performance. I can’t help but worry though. Marie was only the first Contestant. What if the rest are all better than her? And speaking of Marie, where did she go? And what exactly could the next guy be planning?”  
“All right, everything seems ready. Folks, I present Contestant number two, Alphonse of Solaceon Town!”  
“Ho ho! Wonderful! Now, Wurmple, take the stage!”  
The pinkish caterpillar appeared on the stage.  
“Wurmple!” it cried.  
“Now, Wumple, let’s get going start off with a String Shot!”  
“Wurmple!” A thick white web spewed from Wurmple’s mouth.  
“You know what to do, Wurmple! Tempo String Shot Rainbow!”  
“Pull.” Wurmple launched a String Shot at the red bowl. The String Shot emerged covered in red dye. Wurmple directed the red webbing toward the strange fence-like object. Manipulating the String Shot, Wurmple wove a bright red “W” onto the center stage structure.  
“Good job, Wurmple! Keep going!”  
“Wurmp-.” Wurmple stopped moving abruptly.  
“Wurmple? What’s wrong?” Wurmple continued being still as a statue.  
“What’s this? Wurmple has stopped moving completely. And it doesn’t seem to be a planned part of the performance,” announced Lillian.  
“Wurmple, please! I’m getting very worried. Say something!” Wurmple did not respond.  
“And now, Nurse Joy is on the stage to take a quick examination of Alphonse’s Wurmple.”  
“I hope that Wurmple is okay,” said Mia. “I’d hate to be that guy right now.”  
Mia watched as Nurse Joy performed her examination. It seemed mostly to consist of taking Wurmple’s temperature and petting it. Nurse Joy stood back up.  
“Everything will be OK,” she announced to the crow, a smile on her face. “In fact, something quite amazing to behold ought to begin in a minute or so.”  
Mia wondered what Nurse Joy was talking about. Why had Wurmple stopped moving?  
“Since your performance is unlikely to go on any longer, we’ll begin judging now,” said Contesta. “What a truly unique performance! Using String Shot to weave Wurmple’s name, a marvelous idea!”  
“Remarkable!”  
“Based on your commands, I’m assuming that Wurmple would have gone on to weave the rest of its name in the remaining colors. It really is too bad that Wurmple stopped in the middle. A rainbow of String Shot would have been something to behold.”  
All of a sudden, Wurmple began to glow. A white light surrounded Wurmple.  
“Wurmple,” said Alphonse.  
The light grew larger and brighter. It began to fade slowly.  
“Silcoon,” said the Pokémon. It was white and round, with multiple spikes sticking out of its body.  
“Amazing! It evolved in the middle of a Contest. What did it say again? Silcoon? Yeah, Silcoon. Silcoon. I’ve heard of those,” aid Mia, pulling out her Pokédex.  
“Silcoon, the Cocoon Pokémon. Silcoon is one of two possible evolutions for Wurmple. Siilcoon are highly inactive, instead preferring to save their energy for evolution. Unlike Cascoon, they are unlikely to hold a grudge.”  
“Wurmple! You evolved! Ho ho! Wonderful! No matter what happens, you’ll have made me proud today!” boomed Alphonse.  
“OK, OK. Time to leave the stage, Alphonse. We need to have the rest of our Contestants compete still,” said Lillian.  
“Ho ho! I apologize for staying so long. I wasn’t expecting Wurmple to evolve so soon.”  
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Contestant Number 3! Presenting…”  
Mia stopped listening to the announcer lady. She watched the Contest intently. Six more Contestants followed. There was a man with a Ponyta cloaked in flame, two kids competing, one with Plusle, the other Minun, an old woman with a terrifying Cacturne, an old man with a furious Camerupt, and a woman with a Chikorita. The performances all seemed equally good to Mia. They were not without their own problems. Cacturne got stage fright and couldn’t move. Camerupt stopped listening to its Trainer halfway through, instead preferring to rampage around. Plusle and Minun had apparently gotten into a fight backstage, and neither managed to make a move before fainting.  
“All right, everyone. It’s time to see which two Contestants are going to the final round. Direct your attention to the large screen.”  
Mia felt a little worried. There had been three more good performances after Marie. Ponyta had an impressive appeal, running around the stage cloaked in a fiery whirlwind, and Chikorita had managed to snag all of its Razor Leaf with its Vine Whip attack. The Wurmple guy was also a very likely candidate for continuing. Two faces appeared on the monitor.  
“And the two Contestants moving on are Alphonse and Marie! Give ‘em a hand, folks!”  
She made it, she made it, thought Mia excitedly. “Go Marie!” cheered Mia.  
***  
“Impressive. You managed to crack Lunatone’s barriers. They’ll fade on their own eventually, so many people don’t even try and just wait them out,” said Liza.  
“Thank you. You two. Hold the attacks when I call them. Charge them up to full power. I’ve got a plan. Pichu, ThunderShock on Solrock! Ame, Bubble on Solrock!”  
Pichu began charging her Thundershock. Electricity raced around her body. The bubble on Ame’s antenna grew larger and larger.  
“I’m surprised. Ganging up on one Pokémon is a solid strategy in a Double Battle. If you can down one, not only does it become a two-on-one battle, the remaining Pokémon has its morale lowered,” said Tate. “Rookies usually aren’t good enough to realize that.”  
“My father is the Gym Leader of Mauville City at the moment. I got to watch a lot of battles growing up. On occasion, he’d even use Double Battles for the Badge,” said Milli.  
“Overwhelming force to break through Light Screen is your plan, I see. It won’t work. Lunatone, renew the Light Screen!”  
“Solrock, hang tight! Spin the screens even faster!” commanded Tate.  
Lunatone’s eyes gave off a yellow tinge as it began its task of repairing Light Screen. The cracks in the screen slowly began sealing up.  
“Make this Light Screen even stronger, Lunatone! Pour all your concentration into it!”  
“Release your attacks! Aim for Lunatone!”  
“What?!” exclaimed Liza.  
“She switched targets on us!” replied Tate.  
A gigantic bolt of yellow electricity streamed toward Lunatone. It hit its target straight on the mark. Electricity poured through the Meteorite Pokémon’s body as it cried its name. The repairs to the Light Screen around Solrock vanished. Lunatone remained floating in the air.  
“Lunatone! Are you all right? Hurry, dodge the Bubble!”  
A huge bubble was advancing toward Lunatone. The moon-like Pokémon tried to rise. It stopped immediately. Small jolts of electricity could be seen racing around its body. Some jolts even seemed to be zipping between Lunatone and the ground, holding it in place.  
“No! It’s been paralyzed! It can’t get out of the way!”  
“Solrock, use Rock Throw! Save Lunatone!”  
The barriers around it slowing down slightly, Solrock began levitating a mid-sized rock to hurl toward the Bubble attack.  
“Ame, use Double Team!”  
Multiple illusory Surskit soon appeared on the field.  
“Sol?” said Solrock, turning to face the new foes it had.  
“Solrock, pay attention to what’s important! Save Lunatone!” yelled Tate.  
“Sol!” it cried, turning back to Lunatone and hurling the rock towards the large bubble.  
The stone collided with the bubble, popping it. A large gust of air was released from within the bubble, blowing around all the Pokémon. Ame and her illusions held their ground, but Pichu stumbled and was blown into the wall by the wind. Solrock wasn’t affected, but Lunatone was also pushed into a wall by the bluster.  
“Tooooooooone!”  
“Chuuuuuu!”  
“Skiiiit.”  
“Rock.”  
This battle is taking its toll on Pichu. It needs to end soon, thought Milli.  
“Lunatone, Rock Throw on Pichu!”  
“Solrock, try to figure out which Surskit is the real one!”  
“Pichu, Iron Tail on Rock Throw! Bat it back to Lunatone! Ame, jump into the air and surround Solrock!”  
“Solrock, Rock Throw! On Pichu!”  
“Huh?”  
All the Surskit on the battle field propelled themselves into the air. An incomplete sphere of the Pokémon was now around Solrock. Pichu’s tail again glowed white. She got in position and slammed the Rock Throw attack with her again-steeled tail. The rock sailed back toward Lunatone, colliding with it at frightening speed. At the same time as Lunatone’s own attack struck it, Pichu was hit by a different rock, this one from Solrock. Both Pichu and Lunatone collapsed to the ground.  
“Pichu and Lunatone are unable to battle. Please return them to either their PokéBalls or the sidelines to avoid any further damage to the Pokémon,” stated the official.  
“You were great, Lunatone. This was your first Gym battle and you managed to wear down a challenger’s Pokémon quite well,” said Liza.  
“Return, Pichu.” The Pokémon disappeared into its PokéBall. “You were amazing out there. Your Thundershock even managed to paralyze Lunatone. Ame and I will take care of Solrock. I think we managed to distract it long enough.”  
“You’ve got this, Tate! Show them what Solrock is capable of!”  
“Solrock, use Sunny Day!”  
“Sooooolrock!”  
A small sphere of white light appeared in front of Solrock. It was hurled into the air. Bright sunlight streamed down from the orb.  
“Ame, use Aqua Jet on Solrock!”  
The illusory Surskit disappeared. One remained, directly behind Solrock. Both barriers still stood, one directly in front of Solrock, the other behind it.  
“Solrock,turn and use SolarBeam!”  
Light streamed into Solrock and was released immediately.  
“What? That attack needs time to charge. How did it release SolarBeam so quickly?” asked Milli.  
“Easy enough. When Sunny Day is used, not only does it power up Fire type moves and lower the power of Water ones, it also allows for the near instantaneous use of SolarBeam,” answered Tate.  
Please work, please work, please work, thought Milli. This is our only chance of hitting it.  
The SolarBeam attack raced toward Ame. Closer and closer it got. The beam hit the barrier with full force. The beam dissipated. Ame passed through the barrier with ease.  
“Rock?” it cried, surprised.  
“What?!” exclaimed Tate.  
“Yes! It worked! Back when Ame used Double Team, you told Solrock to pay attention to what was important, which at that time was stopping Bubble from hitting Lunatone. When you did, the screens slowed down a bit. After that was over, they went back up to normal speed. Solrock never even noticed they’d slowed down. So I took a gamble, a fifty-fifty chance. It was our only chance of hitting Solrock.”  
Ame collided with Solrock at full force. The small Pokémon drove the larger one into the remaining barrier, causing a spiderweb crack to appear. The barrier shattered. The two Pokémon plummeted toward the floor. Ame jumped off Solrock as it crashed into the ground.  
“Soolll….rock,” it said weakly, rising unsteadily into the air. It fell to the ground.  
“Solrock is unable to battle! The victory goes to Milli and her Surskit,” declared the official.  
“Haha! Yes! We won, Ame! Pichu, can you hear? We beat them!”  
“Good job, Solrock. It was your first Gym battle too. Well, it appears that you’ve won,” said Tate.  
“As a token of your victory, we present you the Mind Badge,” said Liza, handing Milli the object. Two circles, one inscribed with a crescent moon, the other with the blazing sun, were connected by a short metal bar that faded from bright blue to yellow to red to dark blue.  
“Congratulations,” said the twins simultaneously.  
“Thank you. I’d best be on my way.” And with that, Milli walked away, victorious in her first Gym Battle.  
“Do you think she noticed, Liza?”  
“No, Tate, I don’t think she noticed at all.”  
Something hissed in the Gym.  
***  
“All right, folks,” said Lillian. “It’s time for the second and final round of the Oreburgh Contest, Novice Rank. To your left are Alphonse and his newly-evolved Silcoon. To your right, Marie and her Pichu.”  
Marie was nervous. She felt the need for victory pressing down on her. The little girl who was depending on her to find a way to Kanto was surely in the audience by now. But the crowd had grown to a couple hundred people and she could not see Mia among them.  
“Are you ready, everyone?”  
The crowd gave a small cheer.  
“Then, let’s get this battle started! Five minutes on the clock. Who will walk away with the Oreburgh Contest Ribbon?”  
“Your move, Marie.”  
“Very well. Pichu, use ThunderShock!”  
A small yellow bolt of electricity flew towards Silcoon.  
“Silcoon, use Harden!”  
A metallic sheen passed over Silcoon. The electricity hit it straight on.  
“Coon!”  
“ThunderShock is a special attack. Why would you defend with Harden, a move that raises physical defense?”  
“Mostly because I forgot about that. It didn’t do too much anyway. Now, Silcoon, String Shot!”  
Thick webbing spewed from Silcoon’s mouth, ensnaring Pichu.  
“Chu!” it said, panicked.  
“Pichu! Um, try using ThunderShock to fry the String Shot off.”  
“Chuuu!” Pichu released a large amount of electricity. The String Shot remained.  
“Silcoon’s String Shot is an excellent insulator. It’s nearly equivalent to rubber. Now Silcoon, Poison Sting!”  
Three small barbs appeared in front of Silcoon. The barbs were tinged lavender. Silcoon launched the barbs toward Pichu.  
“Amazing! Every single barb hit its mark. Is this the end for Pichu?”  
“That’s it, Pichu! Use ThunderShock again on the String Shot!”  
Again electricity pulse through the String Shot to no effect.  
“I told you that wouldn’t work. Silcoon, Poison Sting again!”  
Three poisonous needles darted toward Pichu.  
“Leap back, Pichu!”  
The tiny mouse attempted to leap backward. Its feet could not get off the ground and it ended up only leaning backward.  
“That’ll have to do. Here comes the Poison Sting.”  
The poisonous barbs tore through the webbing around Pichu. One found its mark. Pichu tore itself free of the String Shot.  
“All right, Pichu! You’re free!”  
“Chu.” Pichu stumbled.  
“What’s wrong, Pichu?”  
“It’s been poisoned,” answered Alphonse. “With passing time, the Pokémon loses health. The best cure for poisoning is a Pecha berry. I’m sorry, Marie. This battle is over. Silcoon, Tackle!”  
Silcoon launched itself toward Pichu. The white cocoon impacted Pichu at high speed. Pichu fell over.  
Bzzzt.  
“And that’s the buzzer, folks. One Contestant’s Pokémon is unable to battle. And so the victory goes to Alphonse of Sirtsema! Congratulations!”  
“Ho ho! You did it, Silcoon! You really did it! You won your first Contest! Thank you!”  
“And now, we present you with the Oreburgh Ribbon. Congratulations!”  
“Ho ho! Thank you!”  
“Good job, Al. You really outdid me in the final round.”  
“No, no. I just got a lucky shot. Pichu probably would have won if it hit Silcoon with another ThunderShock.”  
“Well, anyway, I was only in this Contest for the money, but it was actually really fun. I think I might do another one.”  
“Wait. Only in it for the money? Why?”  
“There’s a little girl who got stuck in this region who’s originally from Kanto. I figured I would use the money from the Contest to buy her a plane ticket home.”  
“Ho ho! I see now. Is she with you today?”  
“She should be somewhere in the crowd. Oh, there she is. The young one with the black hair and the Pichu and weird Zubat.”  
“I see her. And you say you need money to buy a plane ticket for her?”  
“Yes.”  
“Well, then. You can have the prize money.”  
“Really? That’s awfully generous of you. Why just give it to me?”  
“Two reasons: Reason one: you seem trustworthy. Reason two: my family is already rich. I’m only in it for the thrill of the Contest.”  
“In that case, thank you, thank you, thank you. See you in another Contest someday?”  
“It’s a deal.”  
**  
Marie was waving her over so Mia hopped up onto the Contest stage. Marie was talking to the large man.  
“Mia, this is Alphonse. Alphonse, Mia,” said Marie.  
“Nice to meet ya,” said Mia.  
“The same to you,” replied Alphonse.  
“Mia, this man has agreed to give us the Contest prize money so that we can afford your ticket.”  
“Really? Thank you so much, Mister. I haven’t even been able to get ahold of my parents. I was starting to worry I was stuck here.”  
“Marie, right?” asked Alphonse.  
“Yes?”  
“You called me a man but, you see, as a matter of fact, I am only sixteen.”  
“Sixteen?” asked Mia. “But you’re like eight feet tall.”  
“Six-four, actually. Height just runs in the family and we all start shooting up around twelve years old.”  
“Then we owe your parents a great debt,” said Marie. “If there’s anything we can do for you, we will try our best. Come on, Mia. We better get back to the Center for the night.”  
“Whatever you say, Marie,” said Mia. At least I’ll be back on Kanto soil tomorrow. Then, this weird little side trip will be over. “You ready to go back home, Zubat and Pichu?”  
The two yellow Pokémon squeaked and chirped in agreement.  
“Thank you for everything, Alphonse,” said Marie. Marie nudged Mia with her elbow. “Say thanks,” she whispered to Mia.  
“Thanks, Alphonse. Don’t forget about us if you’re ever in trouble.”  
“Goodbye, you two. Have a safe flight home.”  
The girls walked around town for a little while and headed back to the Center in the evening. It was a slow night, Trainers coming in every half hour or so. Most of the televisions were playing old Pokémon League matches, though one was tuned in to the news. Suddenly, the power turned off.  
Huh? thought Mia. Wonder why the power went down. Didn’t see any storm clouds outside and the wind isn’t exactly strong today.  
“Prepare for a scare!”  
“And make yourselves rare!”  
“To control the world through intimidation!”  
“To seduce all peoples in every nation!”  
“Anathema to honor, truth, and love!”  
“Stealing even the stars from the sky above!”  
“Yura!”  
“Ain!”  
“Team Rocket, a stronghold of fear and might!”  
“Surrender now! We win every fight!”  
“Slowpoke.”  
“Tangela.”  
“What the¬ ? What’s going on?” Mia shouted into the darkened Center.  
“Tangela, use Morning Sun.”  
A conical beam of light illuminated two figures. One was a girl, looking approximately seventeen years old. She had bleach blonde hair that came down to the middle of her back and brown eyes. The other was a boy, who seemed a bit older, maybe nineteen. He had short black hair and gray eyes that seemed to be leaning toward black. Both were wearing black jumpsuits with a large red ‘R’ emblazoned on the chest.  
“Weren’t you listening, little girl? I’m Ain, we’re Team Rocket, and we’re here to steal your Pokémon,” said the boy. “Let’s get to work, Yura. Tangela, snatch up any PokéBalls you see with your Vine Whip attack!”  
Blue vines shot forth from the bundle of plants that surrounded the Pokémon’s body. The appendages wrapped around Poke Balls that were sitting undefended, and searched for ways to free them from Trainers who were desperately clinging onto them.  
“Everything is prepped, Ain,” said Yura.  
“Then we shall make our escape. Tangela cannot carry much more.”  
The small blue Pokémon was indeed covered in Poke Balls and seemed to be struggling to stay upright.  
“Let’s go,” said Yura. The pair from Team Rocket ran outside.  
“Wait! Get back here!” shouted Mia. She followed the pair outside. She stopped when she saw the vehicle that Team Rocket had waiting for them.  
It was an enormous Lugia-shaped jet. White wings extended from the middle back. A windshield took the place of the eyes and wrapped around the ehad. A Wingull-wingdoor was opening just beneath said windshield.  
“Come back! Give back those stolen Pokémon! They aren’t yours for the taking!” Mia continued shouting at the criminals.  
“Doesn’t she know this is what we do? We’re infamous throughout the world,” stated Yura.  
“Hold on a minute, how did we miss her Pokémon? She still has a Pichu and something else. I can’t quite tell what it is?”  
“The Poke Balls we stole from her must be empty then. It’s fine. We don’t need a Pichu and…wait. Is that a Zubat on her head? A yellow Zubat? That must be incredibly rare. We have to get it. Oh, girlie, come here a minute.”  
Mia walked closer to the pair of adolescents but kept her distance. Did they have a change of heart? thought Mia.  
“We have a proposition for you. A one-on-one battle. If you win, we’ll give back all the stolen Pokémon. But if we win, you hand over your Zubat. Do we have a deal? I’ll even have Tangela drop what it’s carrying right now.”  
“No way,” said Mia.  
“Wait, Mia!” Marie called out to the younger girl. “I think you should take them on. Don’t worry. I can make sure they play fair.”  
“Well, if you say so,” said Mia. “All right, I’ll take you on. Go, Zubat! I choose you!”  
The winged Pokémon launched itself from her head and fluttered about in midair.  
“I’ll be the one battling today,” said Yura. “Go, Slowpoke!”  
The pink Pokémon took its place on the battlefield.  
“I’ll start this! Zubat, use Leech Life!”  
A purple dart shot from Zubat’s mouth and embedded itself into Slowpoke. Bubbles came from the dart and headed for Zubat, glowing and popping once they collided with its body.  
“Careful, Yura! It may be a Poison-type Pokémon, but it has Bug-type moves.”  
“I know that. Slowpoke, use Water Gun!”  
A jet of water shot from Slowpoke’s mouth and impacted Zubat.  
“Zubat, are you okay?”  
The yellow bat screeched its assurance.  
“All right, now use Wing Attack!”  
“Slowpoke, Disable!”  
Zubat halted in midair. Its wings had stopped moving. The yellow bat fell to the ground.  
“Yura, now’s your chance!”  
“Slowpoke, use Flash!”  
A blinding white light shot from Slowpoke’s entire body. Zubat screeched as the light reached it.  
“No use in closing my eyes,” said Mia. “The light still gets through. It’s like looking at the sun.”  
“Tangela, use Vine Whip on Zubat!”  
Vines shot from the blue Pokémon, ensnaring Zubat and dragging it slowly towards Team Rocket.  
“What?” said Mia. “This battle is one-on-one. No fair cheating.”  
“We’re Team Rocket, little girl. Did you expect us to keep our word?”  
“Yes, I did. There’s one thing you didn’t take into account though.”  
“Oh, what’s that?”  
“Light has no effect on sound! Zubat, Supersonic!”  
Zubat screeched at maximum volume. Rings of sound waves emerged from its mouth continuously. Tangela let go of Zubat as soon as it was impacted by the sound waves. Slowpoke and Tangela began hitting each other with their tail and vines, respectively.  
“She’s the enemy, not Tangela!” shouted Yura. Slowpoke snapped out of its confusion, though Tangela continued to pummel it with its vines.  
“Okay, Mia. Let’s end this. I took advantage of Slowpoke’s Flash to acquire all the stolen Poke Balls.”  
“Huh? What did she say?” asked Ain. He glanced down next to Tangela. “They are gone!”  
“Yura, let’s show them Team Rocket’s real power! Have Slowpoke use that attack!”  
“Ha! It oughta send her pathetic little Zubat flying. Here it goes! Slowpoke, Zen Headbutt!”  
Blue energy appeared around Slowpoke’s head. The pink Pokémon charged Zubat, who was still stuck on the ground.  
“Fly, Zubat, fly! Disable should have worn off by now!”  
“Too late,” said Ain.  
The pink Pokémon collided with Zubat. The blue energy from its head dissipated into Zubat. Zubat fell, defeated.  
“Time to take back those Poke Balls, Tangela!”  
Tangela continued to pummel Slowpoke. “Oh come on, you’re still confused? Guess I’ll have to snap you out of it with this!”  
“Go, Miltank!” said Marie as Ain fed Tangela what Mia recognized as a Persim Berry.  
“Now it’s two-on-two. More fair, don’t you think so, Mia?”  
“Yes, I do. And I have an idea. My Pichu has a natural talent for balancing on moving objects. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”  
“You don’t mean? That’s a brilliant plan. Miltank, use Rollout!”  
“Pichu, hop on Miltank and use ThunderShock around yourselves!”  
Pichu jumped up onto the pink cow and ran in place atop it as it rolled toward Team Rocket, all the while generating a ThunderShock of appreciable power.  
“What is that?” asked Team Rocket in unison as the girls’ Pokémon barreled toward them.  
“This’ll teach you to steal Pokémon! Combination Move! Electrified Rollout!” said the two girls, also in unison.  
“Jump down, Pichu,” called Mia. The yellow mouse leapt from the rolling pink cow that was now covered in lightning.  
Miltank blasted into Slowpoke sending it back into Tangela, and in turn, Yura and Ain. All four collided with the Lugia-shaped plane, breaking its neck and crashing the hea portion to the ground.  
“Us, beaten?” stated Yura in disbelief.  
“We never lose!” said a shocked Ain. “Abra!”  
A golden-brown Pokémon appeared in front of Ain. “We need to get out now and the Lug-jet is broken. Teleport!”  
Team Rocket, the Lug-jet, and their Pokémon all disappeared in a flash of white light. Nothing remained of them except for a few scrap pieces of metal and glass.  
“That was eventful,” said Marie.  
Mia barely heard Marie. She was teetering on the edge of sleep, and decided to just give in to the desire.  
The next morning at the airport, Marie asked Mia if she would be okay on her own for she would shortly be leaving for Kanto alone.  
“Yes, yes, I’ll be fine. I’ll just have worried parents to contend with.”  
“Yeah. I guess so. “  
“All passengers for Flight 147, please go to Gate 5.”  
“That’s you, Mia.”  
“Okay then. I guess this is goodbye.”  
“Goodbye, Marie. It was fun.”  
“Yeah. It was nice to have someone to travel with for a while.”  
As Mia took her seat, she looked for Marie through the window. Unable to spot her, she tried waving to get her attention, but no one waved back. Mia spotted her from the corner of her eye. The older girl was already walking away, not facing toward the plane.  
I guess she has other things to do today, thought Mia, with a slight hint of sadness. I guess we don’t really know each other, but it still felt like we were friends.  
A voice came over the intercom. “The plane will take off in two minutes. Please fasten your seat belts now.”  
And to think it’s only been a couple of days since I left home. Better think of how to explain what happened to Mom and Dad.  
**


	9. Chances

Chapter 8: Cave  
Maybe I should’ve stayed at the airport to wave, thought Marie. No, she’s probably mad at me for using her as a distraction, plus the Kiri story may have scared her off. I suppose it’s a good thing I don’t tell the rest of the story to people I just met. Speaking of which, why did I tell her anyway? I barely even know her. Ow!  
Having not been paying attention to where she was going, Marie’s foot kicked a signpost rather harshly.  
“Mt. Coronet, huh? I think Celestic Town is on the other side.” It’d be nice to pick up some medicine so that we don’t have to completely depend on Pokémon Centers. But it’s filled with Geodude and Nosepass and Bronzor, which neither Pichu nor Miltank nor Kricketot are much use against. Hmmm, if it’s only a short walk, maybe I can just waltz on through.   
Marie walked into the mountain and peered around. Straight ahead, though a bit far, a faint glimmer of light could be seen.   
Aha! Now to get to the other side without being seen.  
Retreating a few steps so that she was again outside, Marie called out her Pichu.  
“Come out, Pichu,” said Marie, releasing the Pokémon from its container. “I need you to be another set of eyes and ears for me, okay? And be very quiet so we don’t wake anything up. Good?”  
“Pi,” replied the yellow Pokémon.   
Relaxing upon walking back into the mountain, Marie kept her eyes open for any suspicious rocks that might have been sleeping Geodude. Pichu walked alongside her, ears twitching in an attempt to detect nearby Pokémon. The mountain tunnel was very quiet, the only sound to be heard were their footsteps and the rustling of Marie’s clothes. The pair came across some rather large, cracked rocks. Pichu hopped up to the top of the boulders and motioned for Marie to follow. Marie tried to climb them, but every time lost her footing and had to begin again.  
“”Come on, Pichu. Let’s look for a way around.”  
Pichu hopped back down to Marie.  
BOOM!  
An explosion seemed to rock the cave. The cave became flooded with Zubat and Geodude trying to reach either exit. Marie and Pichu ran back toward the entrance with them.  
“Grav! Grav! Graveler!” A group of the Rock Pokémon blocked the entrance. One began to spin and hurled itself forward. The others picked up rocks and began throwing them. The spinning Graveler rocketed past Pichu, startling the small Pokémon with its immense speed. Marie and Pichu had almost reached the exit when another Graveler shot toward them.  
“They’re trying to keep us in!” shouted Marie. She spotted a hole with a ladder off to her right. “Pichu, this way!” Marie climbed down the ladder as quickly as she could, Pichu having hopped on her shoulder at the earliest possible moment. They made it safely down the hole.  
It was smoky and quiet down on this floor. Above them, a large rock had found its way to the top of the ladder, likely thrown by a Graveler. It was dark as well, though Marie’s eyes were beginning to adjust. After waiting a few minutes, it was still too dark to be able to discern much.  
“Pichu, use ThunderShock real quick,” said Marie.  
A yellow bolt shot forth from the yellow Pokémon, illuminating the cavern for a few seconds. The cavern was empty for the most part. The smoke seemed to have mostly dissipated and Marie noticed another ladder on the other side.   
“Return, Pichu,” said Marie, recalling the mouse Pokémon to the safety of its container. She began walking towards the ladder on the other side carefully.  
**  
FASTEN SEATBELTS flickered on in bright blue letters on the screen where Mia had been watching the in-flight movie. It had been one of her favorites, too. A movie called “Insert Title Later”, with its story of someone who forgets to put a title in, and yet is recognized as brilliant because the critics believed it was part of the joke.  
“We have arrived in Cerulean City,” said a female voice on the intercom. “Please fasten your seatbelts. The landing will begin shortly.”  
The landing went smoothly and Mia disembarked the plane. The city stood before her as she left the airport.  
Cerulean City was not an old city like Fuchsia or Cinnabar, yet today, it seemed outdated. Small statues of Water Pokémon lined the streets, paint flecking off them in the strong breeze. In the distance, Mia could see a large Seel on top of a round building. That, she knew, was the Cerulean Gym. She began her journey toward it at once.   
She passed a crowd of people gathered around a storefront. They all seemed rather excited about something. Mia couldn’t distinguish what they were saying besides a few words and phrases like “Gym” and “Do you really think…?” and “I wonder when…”. She tapped one of the crowd on the shoulder. A boy of about eleven turned to face her.  
“What’s going on?” she asked.  
“Don’t you know? It’s been in all the papers for weeks. Our Gym Leader is being tested for a position in the Elite Four. The final test is three days from now, on Friday. But they won’t announce the results for at least a week afterwards. Sometimes, decisions have taken months to arrive. It’s said the longer the deliberation, the more likely you are to be accepted. Since our Gym Leader’s dream is to be a master Water-type Pokémon Trainer, a post in the Elite Four would mean that dream has become a reality. The Gyms are bound by the rules of the Elite Four, but they themselves are not subject to the same restrictions. Though it would seem hypocritical, they do still have restrictions. The only one without restrictions is the Champion. Gyms are designed to test strength and cunning. The restrictions on the Gyms were created so that an intelligent Trainer could take advantage of knowledge, while a strong Trainer could essentially disregard the type match-ups. Once a Trainer has beaten at least eight Gyms, they are allowed to challenge the Elite Four. Of course, a Trainer could win eight badges by coincidence, but luck will only get you so far in the Elite Four. And so, the people of this town are rooting for our Gym Leader, Misty, to win her spot in the Elite Four.”  
“Aunt Misty might become one of the Kanto Elite Four? Why haven’t I heard about this?” asked Mia excitedly.  
“Yeah,” replied the boy. “If she gets in, she’ll be the new pride and joy of Cerulean City.  
“I’ve gotta go see her, then,” said Mia.  
“Ha! Like they’d let you into the Gym. It’s been closed for weeks so that she can prepare for and take the challenge.”  
“Oh, I think they’ll let me in,” said Mia. “Thanks for the information, anyway.” Mia ran off toward the Gym.  
“You’re welcome,” the boy replied. “Wait!”  
Mia stopped and turned around.  
“Back up a minute. Did you say ‘Aunt Misty’?”  
“Yeah. It’s kind of an honorary thing. She’s not literally my aunt. Anyway, I’m gonna go see her now.“ And so, Mia continued her journey toward the Cerulean Gym.  
I’m sure Aunt Misty will get in, thought Mia. Besides Daddy, she’s got to be one of the strongest Trainers in Kanto.   
About two hours later, Mia arrived at the Gym. It certainly seemed closed to her, as the usual crowds hanging around the entrance waiting for the water show weren’t there. A tall man stood in front of the door. Mia walked up to him and pushed on the door.  
“Stop! This Gym is closed. Please come back another time,” stated the man imperiously.  
“I’m not here for the Gym. I’m here to see my aunt,” said Mia.  
“Ridiculous. I’ve worked here as a Gym Trainer five years and I’ve yet to see or hear of any of the Leader’s elder sisters’ children. And you certainly don’t look like any of them yourself.”  
“I’ve already explained this once today, it’s really more of an honorary thing. And hey, wait a minute. You’ve neither seen nor heard of Iris, Lily, Daphne, Yarrow, Erica, or Thistle? There’s no possible way. They come here at least four times a year.”  
“Nope. Not a single one rings any bells for me, so I’m disinclined to believe your story.”  
“Just let me see my aunt,” pleaded Mia.  
“I cannot.  
“Yes, you can.”  
“I cannot.”  
“Yes you can!”  
“I cannot!”  
This carried on for a few minutes, when someone walked up between them.  
“What’s all this yelling about?”  
Mia turned toward the familiar voice.  
“Aunt Misty!” she cried, wrapping her arms around the red-headed woman carrying bags of assorted items.  
“Huh?” said the woman, glancing down at Mia. “You’re not Marie.”  
***  
He tumbled into a patch of tall grass on the other side. Dust scattered itself around him. A thin haze blurred his vision slightly. He inhaled deeply to catch his breath. His mouth and nose were filled with the unmistakable taste of smoke and ash.   
M stood up to take better stock of his surroundings. A huge mountain reared from the ground to his right. Its top was caved in a bit, indicating a volcanic nature. The door behind him had disappeared, which he had not expected. This discovery left him with the realization that he was in a faraway land with no easy path back home. He saw a Pokémon Center in the far distance and decided to head for it.  
About an hour later, he came to the Center’s entrance. Walking in, he noticed an unusual sight. There was a large line at the Pokémon Trading Machine. The line stretched around the Center, only leaving breaks for the doors. He went up to the front desk.  
“Why is everyone lined up at the Trading Machine? Besides trading, of course?” he asked the Nurse Joy behind the counter.  
“You’re not from Fallarbor Town, then, I take it?”  
“No, I’m from Lacunosa Town in Unova. I haven’t been in Hoenn very long.”  
“My, that’s a long way to come. Then, I’ll explain. This is part of our annual Camerupt Festival. Each year on the day before Halloween, the townsfolk throw a huge party. It comes from an old tradition of celebrating when the harvest was over and served as the mark for the beginning of the cold season. You see, in Hoenn, the normal four seasons are further subdivided. They go vivid autumn, drab autumn, snowy winter, icy winter, thawing spring, blooming spring, rising summer, fiery summer, and back to vivid autumn. The Camerupt Festival marks the beginning of drab autumn. On the afternoon before the festivities start, there’s a huge Pokémon Swap Meet. Everyone mostly trades Fire Type Pokémon, but that’s due to us living next to the volcano with an abundance of them. You don’t have to trade Fire Types. The only rule is that neither person trading can know what they will be receiving. This part of the tradition is from farmers giving each other their Camerupt to improve their breeding stock. It looks like a pretty long wait right now. Do you want to trade any of your Pokémon? I’d say it’ll be at least a two hour wait. The line dies down when the festivities start.”  
“A Pokémon Swap Meet as part of an annual Festival, huh? We don’t have anything like that in Unova as far as I am aware.,” said M. He felt along his belt for his Pokémon. He felt three PokéBalls.  
Huh? I thought I only had Gliscor and Mismagius with me. Who else did I bring?  
“It’s OK to let my Pokémon out in the Center, right, Nurse Joy?”  
“Of course.”  
M tossed the third PokéBall in the air. The ball opened and shot out a white light, materializing a Pokémon from inside.  
“Electabuzz!” shouted the Pokémon. It looked at M. Yellow sparks engulfed its fist as it launched a ThunderPunch attack at him.  
“Electabuzz, return!” M called the Pokémon back into its PokéBall before the ThunderPunch landed.  
“Oh, that’s right. I brought Electabuzz with me. I wish we got along better,” said M.  
“Oh dear, do you and Electabuzz fight a lot?” asked the concerned nurse.  
“Yeah. It used to be worse, though. Before, it would attack indiscriminately with Thunder. Now it only aims at me with ThunderPunch. The only reason I caught it in the first place is because it wouldn’t stop following me.”  
“Do you carry any electronic devices? Electabuzz enjoy feeding on electricity,” stated the nurse.  
“Not besides my Pokédex and XTransceiver. However, it wouldn’t stop following me even after those were drained of charge completely.”  
“Hmmm. Oh, I know. Do you happen to have something that looks like this, but yellow instead?” asked the nurse, pulling out a small cubic object with a circle cut out from the center.  
“How did you know?” asked M, pulling a near-identical object from a pocket in his Bag.  
“What I have is a Magmirizer, which is loved by Magby and Magmar. That’s an Electirizer. Electabuzz and Elekid love them. Did you pick that up around the time Electabuzz began following you?”  
“Yes.”  
“Well then, that explains everything. Electabuzz was originally mad at everything for letting itself get captured, leading to those indiscriminate Thunders you mentioned. It followed you because it thought you might know where its Electirizer had gone. Then, when it discovered you had had the object all along, it came to see you as some sort of traitor, leading it to direct its anger toward you. If you give Electabuzz its Electirizer back, I think you two will get along just fine.”  
“Really? You think so? Let’s try it. Come on out, Electabuzz!”  
The black-striped Pokémon stood before M again. Sparks again surrounded its fist.  
“Wait! Is this yours, Electabuzz?”  
“Buzz?” It took the Electirizer from M. “Buzz! Buzzbuzz! Electabuzz!”  
“I’m glad you two got that sorted out,” said the nurse.  
“Buzz,” said Electabuzz. Bolts of lightning flew from its antenna suddenly and it shocked M. “Buzz buzz buzz! Electabuzz!” The Pokémon beat its arms against its chest and began preparing another ThunderPunch.  
“Electabuzz, return!” M quickly recalled the Pokémon.  
“Oh no! I was certain that would work. ELectabuzz may have deeper issues than I originally thought. There is another option I suppose.”  
“What is it?” inquired M.  
“Come back in a few hours. Go out and enjoy the festival for now. Just be back by evening,” said the nurse.  
“Didn’t you say that the festivities started in the evening though?”  
“Yes, but I meant the big bonfire gets its start at that time. Before then, the townsfolk have stalls that sell food, souvenirs, the general town fair sort of thing. There are game booths too. But you have to do most everything before the big fire starts, because all the booths close down right before it, and only a few of the food selling ones open back up. So go enjoy it while you can. I grew up here, so I’m fine with missing the beginning parts, but the Center always closes for an hour so that everyone in Town can be at the lighting of the fire. So just come back by evening and we can get this issue with Electabuzz sorted out,” explained the nurse.  
“All right, then. I’ll see you later,” said M, walking out the automatic sliding doors of the Center.  
***  
Marie was nearly to the other side when she noticed a pile of rocks near the base of the ladder. The rocks seemed rather unusual. She picked one up to examine it. The rock was curvy and smooth. She spotted a similar but somehow different rock in the pile. This one seemed to have a tortoiseshell pattern. Happiness welled up within her as she recognized the rocks for what they were.  
Pokémon Fossils! Yay! And so many of them! Dome, Claw, Shell! And it looks like even more are in that pile! I want them all! thought Marie. She sighed.   
“It’s too bad these fossils are so heavy. I’ll be able to take one, two at most. Which ones should I pick?” Marie stared at the pile of Pokémon Fossils. “I could always come back for the rest,” she wondered aloud. “Yes, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll pick two at random. I’ll come back for the rest some other day. Now which two to pick?” Marie was stuck for an answer.  
“Oh, another idea. Pichu, Kricketot, come on out!”   
The two Pokémon materialized before Marie.  
“I’ve got a favor to ask you two. Will each one of you pick one of those Fossils over there and put it into my Bag? This way, I won’t get disappointed by wanting to have picked differently.”  
“Chu!”  
“Tot!”  
“I’ll close my eyes and count to one hundred. Ready? Go! One, two, three…” Marie continued counting. “….97…98…99…100! Everything all set, you two?”  
“Pipichu!”  
“Kricketot!”  
“All right, you two. Return!”  
Pichu and Kricketot vanished in twin flashes of red light. The cave was dark again, save the light at the top of the ladder.  
Now that I think about it, why were there so many fossils piled up down here? Wondered Marie. Something to do with the explosion earlier? I don’t see any scientific or archaeological equipment though.   
Marie climbed the ladder as she continued to think about the fossils. She soon reached the top, and could see a large hole in the side of the mountain that was filled with bright sunlight about three hundred feet away.  
Made it! she thought. Celestic Town is right through that exit over there. There’s still some money left after buying Mia her plane ticket, so I should be able to get some medicine.  
Marie walked out of the cave and blinked in the sunlight. Celestic Town was spread out below her at the bottom of the hill.  
“Hey! Hey you there!”  
“Huh?”  
“Let’s battle!” A young man had run up to Marie,  
“Oh, no thanks. I’m more of a Coordinator, so battling to battle isn’t really my style.”  
“Please? I need my new Pokémon to get some experience. I just caught it the other day and haven’t gotten a chance to battle with it yet.”  
“All right, then,” said Marie. How do people always drag me into things? “Is one-on-one okay with you?”  
“Just fine! Let’s get this battle started! Ladies first.”  
“Thank you. Go, Pichu!” The Pokémon appeared on the ground before her.  
“Come on out, Pol!”  
**  
“You know Marie already? So do I! I met her in Jubilife City and then we met this other girl named Milli and we went to Oreburgh and I watched a Contest and Marie lost but we made a new friend named Alphonse and he basically gave me a way back home but apparently Pallet Town has no airport and the closest one was here. Oh and there were these two people who called themselves Team Rocket who tried steal a lot of Pokémon but Marie and me scared them off. So can I use your phone and call my Mommy and Daddy to come get me?”  
“Leader ma’am, this girl came up and was going on about the most preposterous of things.”  
“Whoa, kid. Slow down, slow down. Who are you? I’ve never seen you before,” said the woman.  
“What do you mean? Don’t you remember me? It’s me, Mia. My family visits with you at least a few times every year.”  
“Not ringing any bells, kid. Marie and her parents occasionally visit, but they’re in Sinnoh, so it’s not too often. You say your name is Mia?”  
“Yes. There’s a bit of a story involving how I got here including police officers and strange doors. I can tell you about it.”  
“Doors? Hmmm, that gives me an idea of what happened, but I never had to deal with this myself. But she might know more about those doors,” said Misty.  
“Who’s she?” asked Mia.  
“Miles, run in and dial this number,” said Misty to the man who had blocked Mia from entering the Gym. “She’s someone who had to deal with some strange doors of her own on her Pokémon journey.”  
“But don’t I really just need to call my parents? I’m already back in Kanto, and they live in Pallet Town. Daddy assists Professor Oak with his research at the Lab.”  
They were walking along underneath the Gym now. To the left was a large aquarium filled with all sorts of aquatic Pokémon. To the right was a row of posters promoting water ballets and other circus-y types of acts. Misty turned to look at the aquarium. She placed her hand flat against the glass. She sighed.  
“I’m going to be completely honest with you, Mia. I’m nearly certain you aren’t in Kanto anymore.”  
“Uh, isn’t Cerulean City in Kanto? If I’m here, doesn’t that make your statement kind of silly?”  
“No. You’ll see why in a minute.”  
“Leader, leader! I’ve gotten ahold of her. It took a few minutes but the call finally went through.”   
“Thank you, Miles. You may go back to the front of the Gym now and keep guard.”  
“Yes, ma’am!” The man left the two girls alone.   
“This way, Mia.”  
Mia followed the woman she believed to be her aunt into a mid-sized room. A few brown armchairs were arranged around a tan rug in the middle of the room. A red-brown pillow sat in each chair. There was a videophone along the wall in the back. A brown-haired woman was on the screen.  
“Hello, Misty. What do you need?” said the woman brightly.   
“Who’s that?” asked Mia.  
“Hello, Serena. I’ve got a bit of a problem here.”  
***  
M spent quite a while at the Camerupt Festival. He bought a few souvenirs and played with the local children, showing off his Mismagius and Gliscor. He saw many members of the Machop line carrying logs toward a big pit off in the distance. The pile looked quite high, maybe about twenty feet by now. Ash occasionally blew down from the volcano in a snow-like fall.  
M looked at the sun. It was behind the volcano and was lowering with a steady pace. He decided to head back to the Pokémon Center. Nurse Joy was standing outside, sticking a CLOSED sign on the front door.  
“Hye, Nurse Joy. I’m back,” he called.  
“Oh good, I was starting to worry you’d forgotten. Well, come on inside now.”  
M followed the woman with the dark pink hair into the Center. They walked to the Trading Machine.  
“Now that the Swap Meet part of the Festival is over, we can go back to trading as normal.”  
“Trading?”  
“Yes. I’ll show you. Come on out, dear.”  
A Pokémon appeared from behind the counter. It was about four feet tall and had a beak resembling a duck. It also had horns that looked like they were made of fire and a tail tipped with a flame like a Charmander.  
“That’s a Magmar, right?”  
“Right, this is my Magmar. I raised it from an Egg. Magmar really doesn’t like being cooped up here in the Center. It loves to battle. We made it all the way to the quarterfinals in the Sinnoh League. And it really wants to evolve. But I can’t just trade it during the Swap Meet part of the festival or it will just end up still in Fallarbor Town under a different Trainer. So, I want you to trade it for your Electabuzz. With you, Magmar will be able to see more of the world than it ever could with me. And I think I can get Electabuzz to trust people again.”  
“You’re the expert. Let’s do this,” said M.  
“Magmar, hold this,” said the nurse, handing Magmar the Magmirizer. “Return.”  
The two Trainers placed the PokéBalls on opposite sides of the machine. Together they pulled down the lever in the middle. The PokéBall disappeared in flashes of white light. A blue beam lit up the midsection of the machine. Silhouettes of Magmar and Electabuzz could be seen passing each other on a white monitor above the blue beam. The PokéBalls re-appeared in flashes of white light.  
“How long do you think Magmar will take to evolve under my training?”  
“Not very long, I’d say. Why don’t you send it out and get to know your new Pokémon?”  
“Good idea. Come on out, Magmar!”  
“Magmar! Mag? Magmar! Magmar!”  
It dropped the Magmirizer it was holding. The object had begun glowing white-hot.  
“It’s okay, Magmar,” said the nurse soothingly. “This is what you wanted.”  
Magmar looked at the nurse quizzically, then nodded its head.  
“Magmar.”  
The Magmirizer shot forth a ball of yellow-orange energy at Magmar. The sphere impacted Magmar and a vortex of flame surrounded the Pokémon.  
“Maaaagmaaaaar!” The flame grew brighter and brighter, eventually reaching a whiteness so intense that neither M nor Nurse Joy could bear to look at it.   
“Maaaagmooortaar!” said the Pokémon, dispersing the flames by chopping the air with its crossed arms.  
“Hooray! You evolved, Magmortar! All right, M, now it’s my turn. Go, Electabuzz!”  
Electabuzz appeared on the Center floor.  
“Electa!” It still seemed angry. It began preparing a Thunderpunch when the Electirizer it was holding fell to the ground. “Buzz?” The object was glowing blue-white. Electabuzz stuck its hand into the socket. “Buzz!” it yelled. The blue-white glow traveled up its arm and began to surround its body. Electabuzz began to disappear behind the electric blue glow. Small bolts darted from the shocking aura. The aura soon faded but the fuzziness remained as fur on the newly-evolved Pokémon.  
“Electiiivire!” it shouted. “Vire! Vire!” Sparks surrounded its fist as it launched a ThunderPunch at M.  
“Still?” he cried. He tried to dodge, but Electivire anticipated his evasion and was prepared. It launched a second ThunderPunch to where M was moving.  
This is gonna hurt.  
“Magmortar!”  
A fiery aura had engulfed Magmortar’s claw. Its fist had collided with Electivire’s second attack, keeping M safe from the blow. The two attacks were not evenly matched. Magmortar clearly had the advantage, pushing Electivire back with the sheer force of its attack. Electivire brought its other ThunderPunch in an attempt to overpower Magmortar. This made the attacks even in strength.  
“Magmortar, you learned Fire Punch! Great job!”  
“Mag-magmortar,” the Pokémon said, grinning.   
“Vire!” shouted Eletivire. Electricity began running between its antennae.  
“That’s its Thunder attack,” stated M. “Magmortar, be careful! Electivire is really powerful.”  
“Mag,” said the Pokémon. It calmly pointed its free hand at Electivire. Its claws retracted and revealed a hole in its palm. “Magmortar-mag-magmortar.”  
“Vire! Vire vire vire! Electivire!” Electivire’s voice sounded strained. Its body was starting to shake.   
“Mag,” said Magmortar, coolly.   
Electivire fell to its knees. Magmortar lowered its arm cannon.  
“What’s going on, Nurse Joy?”  
“I’m not one hundred percent sure. Which is another reason I asked you to come back later. I had to bring this man in. Please come out, Mr. H. T. Woem.”  
“Here I am.” A short man appeared from behind the front desk. He was wearing a black suit and had a poofy afro of gray hair. He seemed somehow odd to M.  
“I’ll let you explain,” said the nurse.  
“Thanks, Nurse Joy. Kid, I’ve been in the business a long time. As such, I’ve picked up the skill to translate Pokémon speech. You see, what happened here was this. Electivire hates humans thanks to them constantly capturing its friends and stealing their Electirizers. Magmortar, on the other hand, was raised by this Nurse Joy, and so is completely at ease with humans. When their attacks met, Electivire was determined to prove it was the stronger of the two. Now obviously, it quickly saw that it couldn’t match Magmortar’s newly-learned Fire Punch with its own ThunderPunch. So it showed off its ability to use two ThunderPunches at once, thinking it would overwhelm Magmortar completely. When even that only matched Magmortar’s Fire Punch, it resorted to a desperation move of threatening a Thunder that it could in no way pull off. It also insulted Nurse Joy, which is why Magmortar pointed its cannon at it and demanded that Electivire take it back. Electivire refused, but it became more and more desperate. It boasted about its power at which point Magmortar pointed out it had one free hand and Electivire gave up arguing and admitted defeat. Its pride is now broken. Nurse Joy shouldn’t have any problems with handling it now. She’ll be able to focus on healing it emotionally and mentally.”  
“Wow, that’s pretty impressive. How long did it take you to learn to translate Pokémon talk?”  
“Trust me, kid, when you’ve been at this as long as I have (twenty-some years last I counted), you learn to pick up on these things. And for me, the first foreign language I learned was the hardest. I’ll be on my way now that this business has been sorted out. Don’t bother with the pay, Nurse Joy. The meal was enough. Abra buddy, come here.” Mr. Woem began walking out the door, where a golden-brown Pokémon had appeared.  
“Mr. Woem, a quick question before you leave, please?”  
“Sure, kid. Fire away.”  
“What was the first foreign language you had to learn that gave you such difficulty? I would like to learn it as well.”  
“Heh, you’re already speaking it, kid.”  
***


End file.
